Survival of the Fittest
by Hell-on-Training-Wheels
Summary: Who is the hunter, who is the prey and who will make it out of the jungle alive? ((Mortal Kombat X and Alien/Predator)) Rated T for language and violence. Complete.
1. EGG

**Chapter 1: EGG**

* * *

There were many dangers in the Kuatan Jungle that they had faced, and they knew all of them until this day.

It was hot and humid that day, and they pondered if the heat was playing tricks on them. A broken pod lay before them, damaged heavily with debris littered about the jungle; a path of broken trees was evidence enough to prove that it had crashed landed. As the Emperor and his guards looked upon the strange craft, they found themselves unable to come to a conclusion of it's possible origin.

Kotal Kahn rubbed his chin with uncertainty. Though severally destroyed, he had an inkling that it was not of Earthrealm and yet it was the only thing he could think of as suitable explanation.

He looked at his guard, Erron Black, a former resident of Earthrealm, who also seemed confused by the craft. He looked at it with his hands on his hips and shook his head, confirming that he did not think it of Earthrealm either. D'Vorah, who had volunteered to inspect the wreckage, emerged, sported her wings and flew to join the Emperor. She carried something in her hands, and they all narrowed their eyes at what she held. They had not expected to find it among the rubble.

"An egg?" Black questioned; unsure if he was seeing things right. He looked at the leathery, slippery sack that dripped she held with a grimace. The bug queen didn't mind the texture and found it familiar to her own children's eggs.

"Yuck!" Ferra spat in disgust with her tongue out. Torr grunted as if agreeing with his symbiotic partner.

"This one finds no trace of life," she informed him. "Perhaps what was inside hatched long ago."

The Emperor nodded in acknowledgement. "Whatever is in the jungle we will locate it, as well as whoever brought it here."

"If there _was_ anyone in there," Black pointed out. "May have been remote piloted. Special Forces has somethin' like that."

"If so what purpose would it serve?" Kotal questioned. "There is nothing in the jungle worth planting a new life in."

"Nothing we know of," Ermac multiple voices chimed.

"Nevertheless, we shall look for this creature and it's master," Kotal Kahn motioned towards the five Osh-Tekk warriors that had accompanied them and they quickly formed around the Emperor. He instructed them to scout the area and report anything they thought noting. With that order, they fanned out in all directions.

D'Vorah noticed the worried look on the Kotal's face; his thoughts lost in deep concentration. "Something troubles my emperor?" she asked.

Kotal Khan looked at her with a grim disposition, "I feel a change in the jungle. Something has stirred it that does not belong here."

"This one would not worry," D'vorah assured him. "It may yet reveal itself as Earthrealm trash."

"I must confirm if so," Kotal replied.

"Emperor-"

Kotal interrupted the Kytinn queen. "I will speak with them."

The only warrior that had remained quiet was the Zatteran and Kotal couldn't help but notice something amiss with him. He looked upon the jungle with a guarded but unsure stare, as if he was trying to find something he couldn't see.

Reptile felt as if something was watching them. He had thought he had seen movement but turned to slowly to catch it. After that, he felt an uneasy feeling sink under his scaled skin he couldn't ignore. The only reason he did not say anything was because he didn't actually see anything and did not want to waste his Emperor's time. However, as he turned towards the group, he offered one last glare of warning not to toil with them to whatever was out there.

* * *

What Reptile was right about was that there was something watching them, but they were not its target... for now.

It was after something else that could be more dangerous than the potential prey that it saw before him. He watched as they discussed amongst themselves, their language they spoke foreign to him. He traced patterns in their words, trying to distinguish what was being said. They were stranger than any creature he had hunted before and that alone sent anticipation through him.

He would eliminate what he was charged to do first and then make a hunt out of all the creatures to bring back their heads to his clan.

They all looked to be warriors, and he would be pleased with their trophies. He particularly had his eyes on one of them. A large human shaped beast with feathered hair and whose skin burned hot with the intensity of the sun. There was a large beast with a smaller human upon it, but it did not impress him as it should- he had taken larger creatures. The burning man was what he wanted; he was the alpha.

He watched as they proceeded to the camp they had established not far from the wreckage of the escape pod. He looked upon the craft with irritation that he would have to accomplish this chore before he could hunt. It was imperative that it did not find what it was looking for before he could kill it; this was not an established hunting ground, and it was forbidden until decreed by the elders.

He would have to suggest this strange unknown place as a proposal with the trophies he would collect when he returned to his home planet. He hoped he would be able to do so before ruin could overtake it. It would be such a pity to let this place go to waste to the black serpents.

* * *

A lone Osh-Tekk warrior paced his way through the jungle with a dreadful weight of uneasiness. He was no fool and noticed that whatever wildlife that was present had suddenly and ominously departed. He clutched his spear a little tighter as he looked for the survivor of the craft and hoped they were not hostile.

He heard something in the brush and turned to meet nothing.

Panic set in.

His eyes darted from left to right as heard what sounded like scuttling through the forest floor. He turned to face the sound of the noise and felt his eyes bulge in alarm as something raced at him. He thrust his spear towards the brush violently began to push aside and whatever underneath quickly advance on him. He felt himself take a step back, the brush covering whatever was coming for him. He prepared his spear for an attack.

Suddenly it stopped a few feet from him, the brush still once again. He narrowed his eyes and slowly and as quietly as he could, he approached. He held in a breath as he used his spear-tip to move the leaves away.

A yellow and red spotted lizard native to the Kuatan Jungle hurried away, and he let out a sigh of relief. He shook his head, laughing at his own foolishness and turned back in the direction he was heading when he felt himself halt.

Something clung to the tree nearby he had not seen before. It was a small, white animal that hung silently on the tree as if it were a piece of fungus. He approached the seemingly harmless new animal to gaze closer inspection on it.

He didn't even have a chance to scream when it abruptly attacked him with a lightning speed he would not have thought possible.

He cried out in terror as his vision blackened and held onto his face with a strength he could not break; it's bony and wet fingers held onto their back of his head like an iron mask. He gurgled and fell to the ground, the last thing he felt was something wet, hard and yet pliable being shoved down his throat before darkness clouded him.

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ _Hoped you enjoyed the first chapter. Let me know what you think with a review and as Shang Tsung would say "IT HAS BEGUN!"_


	2. CHRYSALIS

**Chapter 2: CHRYSALIS**

* * *

General Sonya Blade had to adjust her eyes when she looked at who was hailing her on the communicator. Usually, messages from Outworld ended in some headache or forewarning, and she was not in the mood for either. She sighed and answered the communication.

"General Blade," The glowing face of the Osh-Tekk Emperor dominated the screen and Sonya could tell instantly he looked unhappy."I request an audience with your ambassador."

Sonya nodded her head. "Alright, I will send my team to your coordinates. May I ask what this is in regards to?"

He had already cut off the communication before he heard the question. Sonya stared at the screen with a grim look for a moment before she sighed and paged Sergeant Cage.

"Cage here," replied her daughter's voice on the radio.

"Sergeant, report for briefing with your team in one hour," she instructed firmly, "The Emperor has requested your presence in Outworld."

"Understood, General. Cage out."

* * *

Cassie Cage walked through the barracks unable to locate a certain hotheaded Shaolin Punk, who had refused to answer her radio. Actually, they all had declined to answer their radios and Cassie did not want to incur the wrath of the General if they were late again; she could only stand burpees for so long. She snapped a piece of bubble gum in annoyance and continued her search outside until she felt her eyebrows shoot up in confusion.

Kung Jin was outside, dressed in his usual attire and staring at something in a large oak tree. Cassie drew near and could hear that he was unhappy with something that was refusing to budge from its spot.

"Get down here you little fuzzy brat," Jin sternly and comically demanded.

 _"Meow"_ a small squeak came from the tree as a reply that made Cassie smirk. She had known of Jin's little stowaway for a while; she had seen all the cat hair on his clothing. It was forbidden to have pets, but there wasn't anything that was any harm in having it in his room. She thought it was kind of cute to be honest and almost contemplated about breaking protocol to get a puppy as well.

"Do you want me to get in the trouble is that it?" Jin questioned angrily.

 _"Meow."_

"You're going to make me climb and get you aren't you?" Jin huffed in defeat.

 _"Meow."_

Kung Jin sighed and began to make his way up, but each time he came close the cat darted farther away and climbed higher as a result. Cassie snickered from behind, and caught Kung Jin's attention. Already halfway up the tree he looked at the Sergeant with a peeved look on his face.

"You not having fun with fluffy?" Cassie asked with a sarcastic smile.

"Fluffy is about to get an arrow through him if he doesn't get down here," Jin spat back, mostly to himself. Cassie smiled.

"Come on, we're on duty," Cassie said, her face suddenly serious, and jerked a thumb in the direction of the compound. "We gotta grab Takeda and Jacqui too."

"Hold on!" came Jin's frustrated demand from the tree as he ducked back into. Cassie heard the cat cry out in anger, hiss and heard Kung Jin say a triumph _'gotcha'_ before he jumped down from the tree. Jin held a small black cat with jade eyes by the scruff of the neck and Cassie heard the cat growling under its breath as if peeved its escape did not go as plan.

"Awe, cute," Cassie smirked, "I'm more of a dog person, though."

Kung Jin smiled, "I caught him trying to steal food from me a couple of months ago. He kept coming back after I started feeding him. We share a bond."

The cat hissed.

"What you name him?"

"Cat or shithead, whichever mood I'm in," replied Kung Jin with a shrug which made Cassie roll her eyes at.

"Make sure nobody sees him," Cassie told him sympathetically. Kung Jin nodded thanks and carried the black cat back to his room under his clothing while Cassie went to find her Jacqui and her Shirai Ryu boyfriend.

* * *

Cassie eventually found her best friend asleep on Takeda's chest. The latter had his head leaned back his mouth gaped open and snoring loudly as the credits to the movie they were watching in the Rec Room drawled on. Kung Jin had walked in, stood next to Cassie and smiled sarcastically as he looked at the pair.

"They look comfortable," Jin quipped. Cassie gave him a stern look and rolled her eyes before she nudged Takeda's boot hard. The ninja jolted awake, stirring Jacqui as well and blinked back into consciousness.

Takeda rubbed his tired face and yawned, "Huh, oh ya that was a good movie."

"Yup," Jacqui yawned, truthfully they didn't make it past the first ten minutes of the film.

"Get up," Cassie said. "We got a meeting."

"Yay..." Takeda groaned. "In regards to?"

Cassie frowned. "No idea, but I know my mom when it's something not good."

* * *

They stood at ease as Sonya briefed them about Kotal Kahn's strange and abrupt request.

Truthfully, they were as wary as the General was. The communicator given to Kotal Kahn was an offer of good faith that if he needed anything of Earthrealm, they would assist them as much as they could within the lines of the Reiko Accords. The fact that he did not state the reason for their visit or that he had appeared to be in good spirits, they immediately knew something was wrong.

"I want your team to meet the Emperor's request, but I want you to remain on your guard," General Blade told them. "If the situation turns sour, I want you all to get out of there as soon as you can. I don't think the Emperor would break the Reiko Accords, but I want you prepared if things turn that way."

"Yes, ma'am," Sergeant Cage answered.

"Dismissed. Report to the Portal at 2300."

* * *

The Osh-Tekk warrior woke up gasping for air, the first thing he noticed were the stars that hung over him in the night sky.

How long how had been unconscious for?

He gasped, choking on his air. He felt something by his side and turned his painted face to what lay beside him. In the darkness, he could make out the white bony form of the animal that had attacked him. He pushed it away with a startled grasp and jolted to his feet. The creature felt cold, stiff and did not react to him at all. He gazed further inspection on it and discovered it had died and must have detached itself from him.

He adjusted his eyes to the darkness and looked for the direction of the camp. The Kuatan Jungle echoed with life once again as the nocturnal inhabitants emerged and moved about in the shadows.

He felt something different with him. He had a sickening feeling one would feel if they had been violated. He looked upon the dead creature with revulsion and confusion and debated what to do with the dead animal's corpse. Perhaps this was what the Emperor wanted to be discovered, what they were sent out to look for; it was small enough to of come from the egg the Kytinn had discovered. With much distaste, he picked up the creature by its long, leathery tail and walked it back to the camp.

* * *

Erron Black and Ermac, who were standing guard outside the Emperor's tent, turned their heads in the direction of the noise that had materialized loudly in the jungle. Both guards watched as the Earthrealm warriors that had been requested, came through the portal looking equally unsure of why they were here and armed for battle.

The portal dissipated and they found themselves looking at the Marksman, who was the first to approach them, with his hands resting on his hips and over the handle of his revolvers.

"Alright we're here," Cassie began, her tone a little suspicious. "Mind telling us what this is all about?"

Erron nodded his head in the direction of the tent, "He'll tell you himself."

The Earthrealmers looked at the canvas as if waiting for a trap to spring. Grudgingly, they made their way forward and entered the heavily, fabric garnet red tent. Cassie was the first to see Kotal Kahn, his form in candlelight from the many candles that decorated the tent. D'Vorah was standing by the side of his throne and greeted them with a glower.

Kotal Kahn stood from his throne. He looked exhausted as he approached them, the sun warrior's energy low without the presence of the sun.

"I thank you for coming," Kotal Kahn he said with questions nod. "I understand the hour was late on Earthrealm as well."

"It's alright," Cassie replied. "Can you tell us why you called us here tonight?"

"We have found something most peculiar this day," Kotal Kahn told them, a frown on his face. "Come. Let us show you."

Kotal walked passed them with D'Vorah sauntering behind him, offering the Earthrealmers an unfriendly sneer as she passed. They ignored the unpleasant looks of the bug woman and followed behind her as Kotal Kahn led them.

* * *

When the Osh-Tekk warrior finally reached the camp, he felt something wrong with his chest. His fellow guards saw him approach from the darkness, and he barely heard them question him of his whereabouts. A strange and painful pressure had slowly emerged the closer he walked to his fellow guards. It felt as if he had something dislodged in his chest he could not rid of not matter how much he pounded on his chest for relief. He felt his heart beat faster and faster…

The fellow Osh-Tekk warriors anger for their comrade for disappearing was replaced with fear and concern as he dropped the dead animal from his hand, and they saw his chest lurch painfully up; as if something pushed on his sternum from within. He gasped in pain and placed a hand on his chest for comfort that he would not receive.

Erron Black was standing nearby when he heard screaming that erupted from the missing Osh-Tekk warrior that had finally returned to camp. He rushed to the scene as the guards held his arms and his chest lurch wildly while he screamed in agonizing pain.

"What's wrong with him?" Erron demanded.

Erron's hands went to his revolvers as the Osh-Tekk's eyes bulged in surprise, pain, and terror. His chest erupted into a fountain of blood that coated all that had been standing near. A horrible shrieking came from within the chest, and the Osh-Tekk warriors that were holding him released him in horror. They backed away as his body fell to the forest floor dead, and a white tubular like creature with fangs and no eyes snarled at them all; covered in his blood and crawling its way out of the man's chest.

"What in the hell—" Erron said, his hand lifting his gun out of his holster and aiming it at the little beast. It snarled, let out a screech at him and fled with more speed than he would have given it credit. It disappeared into the forest floor, concealing itself and causing Erron to miss his target as he fired at it. Black frowned deeply behind his facemask.

Silence and shock enveloped them, and the gunslinger looked in the direction of the creature's path with a grim thought; as if he knew that this would not be the last he would see of it.

* * *

Now they understood the cause of the suspicious looks that Kotal Kahn had given them and why he had been urgent to summon them here. Kotal Kahn could see that they also had no clue as to the origin of the craft; their faces expressed the same uneasiness that they had when they had first discovered the ship. It was foreign and they did not recognize it. He just had to be sure it was not of Earthrealm before he could determine that there was a need to fret.

"Do you recognize it," Kotal Kahn questioned the young Earthrealm ambassador.

She shook her head, "I've never seen anything like it before," the corner of her mouth picked up slightly, her eyes a little anxious. "Are you sure it's not from Outworld?"

"We are certain," Kotal Kahn answered.

"This one still believes it of Earthrealm," D'Vorah announced, still unrelenting in her doubt of them. It earned her glares from the Earthrealmers.

"Well, it ain't," Jin answered curtly, annoyed by the insect mother's persistence to demonize them.

"This one does not believe you—"

"D'Vorah, enough," Kotal said, " _I_ believe them. Do you know where it may have come from?"

Cassie wished she could have given him an answer because she was just about to ask him the same thing.

Takeda was looking over the craft; his eyes focused on the main computer console that was made out of strange hard metal that looked like hammered aluminum. He looked at the keyboard that had strange symbols he had never seen before he motioned to Jin for him to come over. The Shaolin walked past D'Vorah with a pestered stare before he looked at the ship and what Takeda had called him over for.

"You recognize the lettering? I don't," Takeda asked.

Kung Jin looked at the symbols of the keyboard, but nothing was coming to mind. "You sure it's not from Outworld?"

Takeda shook his head, reading his friend's mind. "Whole lot of stage magic to get us here to break the Reiko Accords. I think they are as confused as we are."

Jacqui who was standing nearby the group suddenly flinched when something heavy and invisible landed right next to her. She smelled Reptile before he materialized from the air.

"Emperor, come quickly! Something has happened," the Zaterran seemed distressed. With haste, they followed Reptile back to the camp and found themselves at a loss for words when they arrived. The situation was getting stranger and stranger the more the night progressed.

The first thing they all noticed was the dead body that everyone in the camp had come to look upon. Cassie and the others saw Erron Black's clothes splattered with blood as well as few of the Osh-Tekk warriors. Ermac and Ferra/Torr also gathered near trying to figure out what kind of beast had done this.

Jacqui was the first to notice that Erron was holding something in his hand as the group walked towards the body. It was a cross between a crab and spider with a long cord-like tail as well as mouth that opened sideways with a tube-like appendage jutting out from it and by the looks of it, was dead.

Kotal Kahn looked upon the body with a frown of sadness, the wound he stared at violent and unnerving. He had no doubt died terribly. A gaping cavity was all that remained in the man's chest; his ribs jutted out.

"Holy shit-fuck," He heard Cassie breathed out as she looked at the corpse in disbelief.

The Emperor looked at Erron Black as he lifted the spiderlike animal by its tail for the group to see.

"He was carrying this," Black told him, handing over the dead creature to his Emperor, who had been reaching for it.

Kotal Kahn shuffled the dead animal back and forth between his hands with curiosity; it was bony and cold with a skin similar to a fish. The creature was alien to him, and he looked at the Earthrealm warriors who seemed to be as ignorant to what it was well.

He handed it to Cassie who gave him a disgusted look as if Kotal Kahn had offended her; clearly not wanting to take it from him to inspect it. Kung Jin offered his hand reluctantly not to offend the Emperor, took it with a grimace and looked it over as well. Takeda and Jacqui looked over his shoulder at it.

Kotal turned to Erron, "Was it what killed him?"

"No," Black answered, "He came in carryin' that thing. He had somethin' inside of him that broke its way out."

"What kind of _thing_?" Jacqui questioned with a hesitant grimace.

Black's mouth twitched with a bitter smirk, "Something that didn't seem all too friendly."

Kung Jin looked at the creature's orifice and accidently pulled out the long tube that was embedded in the creature. It reminded him of tapeworms and let it roll off his hands and let it fall to the ground unceremoniously; the deadpan but repulsed expression on his face looked as if he was done with life altogether. Jacqui looked at it and mouthed _'eww'_ silently.

D'Vorah was the next to examine it and instead of disgust she found it intriguing, a thought crossed her mind as she looked at the appendage that hung limply from its _'mouth'_. "Perhaps this creature is from the same hive."

Eyes shot in her direction.

"You mean, like a parasite?" Takeda asked, reading her mind for clarity.

"Precisely," she confirmed, "Perhaps he was a host for what sprung from him."

"A host for what sort of creature?" Ermac said.

"This one is not sure," D'Vorah answered.

Cassie exhaled in both irritation and worry. Unsure really of what their next move would be.

* * *

Above them, the hunter that had been stalking them cursed in his native tongue. The facehugger had already lain a serpent that was somewhere in the vastness of the jungle.

He would have to find it before it grew to adulthood that did not give him much time. He looked down at the group of warriors, more had joined them, but they were humans. He grew tired of hunting humans; the were repetitive, boring and simple-minded...

His felt as if something had noticed him, and he looked through to see the one with skin much like his own had caught his scent and was looking in his direction. He still could not find him in the trees, but he knew he was there.

He narrowed his eyes at the reptilian humanoid and wondered if he would have to make the black serpent wait.

* * *

 **A/N:** _This is a sort of AU for the game, so it doesn't follow the story mode. Also, make peace with your favorite character because everyone is fair game and yes there will be blood. Please leave a review to let me know your thoughts or if you have any suggestions on what you like to see and take care._


	3. MONARCH

**/N:** _"_ All right! Who we gonna kill today?" _(Spins wheel with all the character's faces on it with the glee of George R.R Martin)_

* * *

 **Chapter 3: MONARCH**

* * *

As what was normal for their species, the great metamorphosis took place in the event of finding suitable nesting grounds and failing to locate others in the hive. It was a survival mechanism excruciatingly painful, but necessary for the continuation of the colony.

Already establishing a perfect nest in the form of a dark cave, the change took place as it grew into adulthood. It hissed painfully as it slowly raised its second pair of arms and the crown continued to jut out mangled and unfinished. Soon the eggs would come where more of their kind would emerge.

However, before the eggs could be laid, she would need to find suitable hosts.

* * *

Kotal Kahn had noticed Reptile growing increasingly more and more impatient as he continued to fix his direction towards the tree line. The night was ending soon, and Cassie Cage and her team would give the Emperor an answer if they would assist any further. She was currently on her communicator talking to General Blade and from the little he could overhear, she sounded just as disturbed about the possible quarantine that would have to take place—especially since they had no idea what they were facing.

Reptile heard the Emperor approach, but he was too focused to acknowledge him until he was right next to him. "Something troubles you," Kotal Kahn pointed out.

Reptile nodded. "Something watches us."

Kotal Kahn looked at his Zaterran friend; he did not like this news. "How do you know this?"

Reptile nodded towards the tree canopy, "I've felt its presence. It stalks us silently— using the trees to blend itself."

"You have seen this?" Kotal Kahn asked. Reptile shook his head, a disappointed frown on his fanged face.

Kotal Kahn gave a miniscule nod as he looked at the trees. He knew that Reptile could be mistaken from time to time, but never had he been as unfaltering as now. Even after they had buried the Osh-Tekk warrior, he scanned the trees waiting for something to emerge.

Kotal Kahn placed a hand on the Zaterran's shoulder, which made Reptile look up at the Kahn for an explanation.

"Go. Quell your suspicion. Be vigilant in your hunt and inform me of what you find," Kotal Kahn instructed him.

Reptile nodded a pleased thanks. "It will be done with pleasure Ko'atal." With that he camouflaged himself and Kotal's hand left his shoulder as he took off into the jungle.

Nearby Cassie looked at the holographic image of her mother who seemed very perplexed with Cassie's report. Cassie saw her sigh and nod her head trying to figure out a solution.

"I want you and your team to stay in Outworld to assist Kotal Kahn," she told the sergeant, "I don't want whatever this is to venture into Earthrealm, so until we hear you have contained it, the portal stays closed.",

Cassie grimaced inwardly at that. _Great. Stuck in Outworld forever. I hope they have sushi here._

She nodded obediently, trying hard not to convey her distaste for the order. "Understood," Cassie answered.

Her communicator cut off after that and Cassie exhaled and placed it back in her pocket. She turned to the Emperor who was watching the tree line with more intensity than she thought necessary.

Kotal Kahn heard her approach and turned to face her.

"We'll be assisting you in quarantine the... whatever it is," she related to him with a shrug.

Kotal nodded a thanks and returned to what he was looking at. Cassie's eyes moved to the trees. "Something the matter?"

Kotal Kahn fixed his narrowed, pupiless eyes around the jungle. "I fear we have yet to discover what we are facing, and we will never come to understand it before it understands us."

Cassie furrowed her brows in confusion as Kotal Kahn gave the jungle one last stare before retreating to his tent, leaving Cassie without a clue of what he was talking about.

* * *

The morning broke through the jungle with humid intensity and far away from Kotal Kahn and the Earthrealm _Teen Titans_ , the leader of the Black Dragon stood casually shaving his chin with his knife.

He glowered under the hot sun as he was constantly reminded of the morons he was around. They had no idea where they were in the bloody jungle and the last of Kano's patience left him when the navigator of the group shrugged at him. Kano stopped shaving his neck and grabbed the map roughly from his cohort, looked it over and shoved a finger at the spot they were supposed to be.

When they first came to the jungle, they were chasing a rumor and despite their setback they were still looking for a second Kitai stone somewhere in the Kuatan Jungle. Their camp had been lost days ago when the sinkhole they had unknowingly made camp on engulfed everything except what they had on them. The portal stone would serve as the only way out of the Kuatan Jungle that didn't involve running into Kotal Kahn and his guards. They were tired, hungry, hot and severely diminished in terms of men and supplies and each one of them was afraid that Kano would start slicing throats if he didn't hear good news soon.

"It ain't tha' difficult, is it?" he scowled, trusting the map back at him.

He barked at the other six men in the company, swinging his knife in the air in a harsh beckon.

"Pick up ya skirts ya tossers and move! We're reachin' it before sundown."

Kano led on, his boots soaked by the wet jungle floor as sweat dripped down. A lizard that was innocently climbing a tree and meant no harm was stabbed in half just because it was in Kano's way. His frustration grew the more he remained in the jungle and tredged on leading a bunch of incompetents like a Boy Scout trip. They were all exhausted, and he wanted to get out of this bloody situation as fast as he could. It became more difficult when he found out they were outnumbered by the same Emperor that had wanted his head for a while now. It was nothing personal; he just tried to kill him.

The closer they came to their location on the map, the more Kano noticed the lack of noise coming from the irritating little scampers that shrieked annoyingly in the forest. The sound dwindled and then it stopped altogether. No critters, just the sound of their boots.

He looked around suspiciously and frowned. Something wasn't sitting right—especially when they reached the cave.

He had ventured into a lot of caves but never did he find one so gooey. It was made out of what looked like jagged, volcanic rock and another white colored substance that he couldn't place. The whole cave didn't seem to fit in the equatorial jungle and he felt the corner of his mouth tug up slightly in doubt. His cybernetic eye scanned around, but he found nothing but rock and darkness inside.

He volunteered the map holder to venture in first and waited for him to give the all clear.

Ten minutes had passed when he heard screaming, and as much as he hated to admit it he nearly screamed when the reason for the critters disappearances emerged from the cave and came after them one by one.

They opened fire on the massive black monster that towered over them, but it seemed to have no effect on it— even Kano's eyebeam didn't appear to slow it down.

Kano was the last man left and he clung desperately to the outside of the cave wall in a panicked anger, the black rock cutting his hands open, before he was yanked inside the cave as well; a sharp tail wrapped around his ankles.

His screams died down the more he was drawn into abyss.

* * *

Already on the hunt for the nest, the Predator was thrilled when he heard the sound of gunfire and screaming. If there were more humans in the jungle that he had overlooked, there could only be shooting at one thing. High and perched on a branch without his camouflage he opened his wrist computer and looked at the holographic map of the forest that was provided by the ship's computer. He saw the location of the where the warriors were camped, and it was only a few miles from where he was. He noticed the small entrance of a cave that was tucked heavily in the jungle. That would be the best place for a serpent to hide.

The wrist computer closed and he looked about the jungle again, trying to decide which direction to take when he felt a pair of clawed feet push him off the branch he was crouched on. He roared in surprise and tried to grab onto any branch he could to stop his fall but only succeeded in hitting and breaking them on the way down; causing him more pain.

He landed face first with a hard thud and felt agony course through his chest. His camouflage flickered and exposed him, and he noticed his metal chest plate was bent from the fall. He braced his clawed hands on the ground and pushed his way up just as his assailant had made his way down and materialized.

It was a creature that Reptile had never seen before, and it perplexed him greatly. The being was tall, taller than Kotal Kahn and built with strong muscles. He wore a smooth metal face mask with dreadlock cords coming out the back of it. Reptile noticed that while his chest was a discolored beige, he also had traces of dark scales on him which made him wonder if he was reptilian. Reptile noticed the shoulder cannon gun that sat on top, whirring as if ready to blast him into pieces.

"Why do you watch us!" Reptile hissed at him.

The beast didn't acknowledge him; all it did was stare at the Zaterran as if it didn't understand him. Reptile took his silence as disrespect.

"Speak your last!" Reptile growled, crouching into a fighting position. The Predator answered him by withdrawing two wicked arm blades from the gantlet on his arm.

Reptile charged him first; his moves nimble and fast. The humanoid drove his arm blades down on to him, but Reptile moved quickly out of the way and managed to claw the flesh over the top of his thigh before sliding behind him.

The Predator winced slightly but turned around, his arm blades swinging back around which Reptile barely missed by leaning his head back. Reptile jumped in the air and drove both of his feet into it's chest, making him stumble back in pain before Reptile landed on his back. Reptile's feet rolled over his head until he was crouched on the ground and spat a pool of acid where he was standing.

He flailed out of the pool as the acid bit at his heavily sandaled feet and the flesh of his calf muscles. He clicked angrily at Reptile as three laser dots emerged from the forehead of the mask and aimed for him.

Reptile's tongue shot out to grab the shoulder cannon, but he misjudged the reflexes of the bulky beast as the creature's hand grabbed his tongue painfully before it could latch on to the shoulder gun.

The Predator pulled—hard—on his tongue and felt satisfaction when he was able to rip it out altogether. Reptile howled in pain and stumbled back clutching his mouth as the Predator discarded the tongue to the floor of the jungle.

Blood spewed from Reptile's mouth, and he glared dangerously at the Predator. He lunged for him with clawed hands and the felt his ribs break when the Predator brought his heavily muscled leg up and kicked forward. Reptile yowled in pain as his back hit the ground, a hand going instinctively to his broken chest.

He barely moved out of the way as the arm blades came down and stab the forest floor where he once was. He swiped a kick at the back of his ankle and frowned when all it did was make him lose his balance for a moment. He looked to him and grabbed Reptile by the throat before he could get away and lifted him high over his head. Reptile choked and frailed angrily in the crushing grip, his eyes narrowed in anger at him.

Reptile spat into his hand and placed it over his wrist computer. The Predator smelt something burning and watched as his metal computer sizzle. Reptile took satisfaction that the beast didn't like that he had melted whatever importance his gantlet served him. He glowered behind his face mask and Reptile snarled in pleased malice at him.

Reptile felt unbearable pain enter his abdomen and looked down to see the arm blades buried deep in his gut. The Predator twisted the blades and soon after a couple of painful spasms the Zaterran species was finally extinct.

He dropped him by simply loosening his grip and turned his attention to the computer. Quickly, he reached into the utility belt and produced a cleaning agent to counteract the acid burning through the software.

He managed to save some of his communications and the bomb activation, but his camouflage capabilities were over. He clicked angrily and shut the computer screen with an angry flick of the wrist. Taking this trophy had come at a price— it would be difficult to hunt the serpents or anything else without camouflage. He looked at his trophy with a scowl, grabbed it by its ankle and dragged it away for a flaying he wasn't particularly looking forward to.

* * *

The first thing Kano noticed was the how sticky he was and that he was sitting on the floor. He blinked his single eye and found himself in darkness, the only light source from the cave entrance that might as well of been a marathon of a way to get to.

He was delirious and tried to move his arms and found he couldn't which caused him to jolt awake even more. He saw his arms trapped off to the sides in the same white substance from the outside of the cave that and it was as hard as marble. He heard what sounded like labored breathing and looked up at what he was sharing a room with and felt a sliver of fear crawl it's way to his face.

The creature that had attacked them snarled nearby as saliva dripped from its mouth like a broken faucet from a row of iridescent white and needle-like teeth. It didn't have any eyes from what he could see, and it seemed to be constantly snarling in pain.

His eye followed its head to see a massive crowned head that spiked into intricate and sharp points at the end; the body itself was bony and as obsidian as the cave rock. Kano noticed that it was sitting on a large putrid looking sack that had the traces of orbs in it, his eye followed to a funnel that laid eggs one by one. He pulled at his arms and felt a small sigh of relief when one of them was loose, the other side would need some work, though.

He heard groaning to his left and noticed he wasn't the only one in the cave. One of his companions had already been awake for some time now, and he looked as if he was in pain. Suddenly his chest lurched and he screamed in pain. Kano noticed his chest coating in blood the more and more the violent the spasms became. Kano's eye bulged in surprise when the man finally died, and a tiny demon like creature emerged screeching from the man's chest.

Kano looked around in panic as if for an explanation and found it across the cave. More of his team was with him, and they were unconscious with spider-like creatures holding onto their faces in a disgusting embrace. When the egg opened up in front of him, all the pieces came together.

"Oh rack off," Kano cursed. They would not have him.

His eyebeam whirred to life and blasted the facehugger before it could launch out at him. The egg-laying psychopathic monster came to life when he started to blast his way out of his hold, his eye beam burning himself as well, but he was getting free nonetheless.

Kano finally got an arm free and worked on the other as the beast hissed and snarled at him. Hekicked himself out of the goo but felt a stabbing pain engulf his arm, and he looked down to see one of the crystallized shards created a massive, gaping cut on his arm; blood spilled over his bicep and down his forearm. He covered his arm with his hand, jumped to his feet and bolted, but not without leaving the queen bitch with a parting gift.

"Sorry love," he smirked sarcastically as his eyebeam burned as many eggs as he could on his way out. He chuckled a little as she thrashed and screamed unable to do anything without detaching herself from the ovipositor. Kano noticed she wasn't following him, and he made his way out of the cave in no time, covered in blood and white goo alive.

However, if he had only noticed the dead facehugger that had been right next to him when he woke up, he would have felt different.

* * *

The Predator had just finished patching his leg and skinning his prey when he heard something running through the jungle down below.

A large human with a cybernetic chest and eye mask was clutching his arm and running away from something in haste. The Predator watched, the human too fixed up in his own thoughts to see that he was watching him.

He heard him saying the same word over and over with distaste as if to himself while he ran in the direction of the warrior's camp. By the looks of how frantic he was, it didn't seem he knew where he was going. He thought of hunting him, but there was no sport in hunting the wounded.

"Bugger. Bugger. Bugger."

The Predator watched him leave and returned to his work. Taking a mental note of what he was running from most likely the black serpent and would head in that direction momentarily.

* * *

Cassie was talking to Jacqui when she saw what might have been the strangest sight so far. Kano was running into camp, noticed where he was and tried to run the other way before Ermac was able to place a green bind on him. She heard him curse 'Bugger' in pure frustration and Cassie felt a tidal wave of anger flood her.

"Is that who I think it is?" Jacqui asked, the look on her friend's face confirming her suspicion. Takeda and Kung Jin also came around the corner and frowned at what had stumbled into camp.

"Great. He's here," Takeda remarked with a frown. Kotal Kahn and the other Outworlders were making their way out of the tent as Ermac had Kano in a green hold and forced him to walk towards camp.

"Get your glowy freak hands off me, you wretch," Kano snarled. Ermac's answer was to place Kano in front of Kotal Kahn in a kneeling position with the bind still on him, his arms molded to his sides as blood dripped down his arm and onto the ground.

Kotal Kahn crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow; trying to decipher the strange sight that was before him.

"Red eye!" Ferra snickered from Torr's shoulders. Kano scowled at them and then noticed Sonya's brat and team approaching, he smirked at the outraged look on her face.

"Baby girl. Happy to see me?"

"Asshole," Cassie spat back before a sudden, disgusted look crossed her face. "And... what the hell are you covered in?"

"Ya mum's breast milk," he shot back with an annoyed frown. Cassie punched him in the face.

"Enough," Kotal Kahn said, looking at Cassie Cage intentionally. She understood and backed off, the anger still evident on her face.

"I was unaware of vermin in the jungle," Kotal Kahn quipped, the ghost of a smile on his face. Kano spat blood at the comment but didn't say anything and instead wiggled the tooth that Cassie had knocked loose. "I know you are no fool to wander into your own execution. Have you come to plead for your life?"

"Don't flatter yourself, mate," Kano fire back with a dirty look. "It was a mistake."

"A mistake you will pay for making," Kotal Kahn retorted darkly.

"Wait a minute," Kung Jin interrupted. He had no love for Kano, but something did not make sense about the entire thing. "What were you running from? Obviously it was enough to spook you."

"None of ya business," Kano spat.

Kung Jin frowned, "You're stupid but not that stupid enough to run into us. What attacked you?"

Kano glared at the Shaolin Monk. "A nasty bitch that wasn't too thrilled when I gave her what she had comin' to her. Kinda like your mum blondie."

Cassie resisted the temptation to shoot him in the face, Jacqui's hand on her shoulder keeping her even grounded. Kano laughed softly.

"How'd you get away?" Erron Black asked, a voice in the back of his head wondering if it was the creepy little beast that he had failed to kill.

"I'm a survivor mate," was Kano's answer.

"Where is this creature?" Kotal Kahn questioned, a grim expression on his face.

"First we make a deal," Kano said, a knowing gleam in his eye. "Let me go and I'll gladly tell ya where to find it."

"You will tell us or perish," Ermac said, tightening the bind a little.

Kano grimaced under the telekinetic bind but it wasn't what made his eye bulge in pain. They heard the sound of his ribs being broken and he cried out in pain and surprise, his chest lurching violently even with Ermac's power. Kano breathed heavily, understanding what happening as panic was set in.

"Bugger," was the last thing he was able to say as pain engulfed him and he started to scream. Ermac let him go as he thrashed on the forest floor on his back. Erron noticed that there was something different this time as Kano continued to writhe on the floor, clutching at his chest, and he was right.

Unbeknownst to them the chestburster was having a difficult time trying to claw it's way through Kano's metallic chest piece over his scarred pectoral muscles, so it went the only other direction it could think of.

Kano started to choke on his own blood and the group grimaced as they watched his throat expand unnaturally and painfully. The chestburster clawed its way up Kano's chest and throat while it destroyed him from the inside. It came out his mouth screeching and covered in blood as Kano went slack. Erron Black, who did not want to make a repeat of last time, brought out his gun and shot it. The little white demon exploded, small white chunks coating Kano's face and what happened next surprised them all.

As the blood of the creature soaked into Kano's skin it started to bubble and melt, burning through him as if it was nothing. They smelled sulfur and grimaced as it burned holes through his face and into the forest floor.

"Acid for blood?" Takeda said out loud.

"Impressive," D'Vorah smiled under her breath.

"Well we know one thing," Jacqui said. "There's more of those crab things out there."

Kotal Kahn nodded in agreement at the Specialist's assessment, "The tide continues not to be in our favor. We must find this creature before we become overwhelmed."

"Whatever it is it's breeding more crabs, and those things came from eggs," Takeda said. "It must have a nest of some sort."

"Yes a hive," D'vorah said in agreement. "And if there is a hive there must be a mother to lay them."

"Great. More bugs," Kung Jin groaned, earning a scowl from D'Vorah, which he smirked at.

"We will all take part in finding this nest and seeing it destroyed before we are the next to succumb to similar fates," Kotal Kahn said which everyone seemed to be in agreement. They would all have to go into the jungle before it found them.

Cassie looked over the burning body of Kano with a black look, on the fence about whether she should be happy that Kano was dead or disappointed she didn't do it herself.

"Some survivor."

* * *

 **A/N:** _I took creative liberties with the Queen this one time._

 _I got asked the question from a guest reviewer if I would add some of the older characters in or if it would be just the new gang. Primary it is supposed to be the new ones, but I will add the older ones in if I can. I'm sure I was subtle that Reptile would bite the dust, but Kano wasn't supposed to be in here at all so thank you for the question that inspired his participation and I hoped I gave them both a proper send-off. I also stole that joke at the beginning from Smosh's "If TV Shows Were Realistic 2" so I don't own that. :)_

 _Hope you enjoyed this chapter, let me know your thoughts and I'll see you for the next chapter._


	4. HUNT

**A/N:** _*Throws waterproof ponchos while imitating Oprah*_ "You get a poncho! You get a poncho! And you get a poncho! EVERYONE GETS PONCHOS!"

* * *

 **Chapter 4: HUNT**

* * *

 _Earlier..._

The console blared loudly at him as the ship was thrown every which way. He tried to regain control of the craft but found it difficult as he tried to keep the facehugger in the shuttle craft at bay. It was supposed to be a swift and easy drop; he had done many in the past before and never with complications.

It all began when he received a communication from the ship that while they were at the right coordinates, the planet was the one not intended for their hunting grounds. Then as he began to turn back, his engine sputtered and died as he began to turn back to the ship. While he was distracted with trying to gain control of the vessel the egg had hatched in the commotion and the facehugger had been looking for a way out. He had underestimated their ingenuity; he thought of the serpents as the clever ones, but the facehugger had managed to cut itself and burn a hole in the secure crate.

He was forced to let go of the controls when it attacked him; he did not have his face mask on, and it was determined to make him a host. He had his clawed hand over the orifice of the creature as it fought around his hand trying to get to his mouth. His other hand was tugging on the tail that had managed to wrap around his neck. He clicked angrily as the strength of the facehugger was unrelenting, and his neck screamed for release. He vaguely heard the computer in the cockpit noisily shouting an altitude warning, but there was no way to reach the controls.

The ship bounced against the surface like a pebble on a lake, and the aliens inside were stunned and knocked around. He vaguely noticed the tail come loose and the alien thrown around the cockpit; he was attached to the seat, but the strap was loose and felt his head swinging each way wildly. The ship stopped violently, and he felt his face hit the dash hard, his world a sea of blackness he tried to focus in on.

He clicked his mandibles in pain while he slowly lifted his sore head up and laid it against the back of the seat. He adjusted his eyes and tried to register where he is. He noticed the facehugger from the side, his finger like legs twitching slightly looking as if it was dying. He slammed his hand on the dash, the broken cockpit hissed to life and opened for him.

He felt pain over his body like a thousand razors, but the most of it centered in his left shoulder and his knee. His arm hung limply, and he used his other hand to release himself from the seat. He tried to stand but found himself roaring in pain and grasped his knee. More pain than he had felt in his years soared through his knee, and he cursed in his native Yaujta tongue. He reached for his spear and turned it, the spear shot out swiftly, and he used it as a crutch to stand. He looked down at the facehugger and noticed it had stopped moving. At least there was one less thing he would have to worry about.

He looked around the cockpit for his face mask and equipment. After picking them, he looked for his shoulder cannon and cursed when he remembered he had left it behind. He placed the utility belt on his uninjured shoulder and leaned down to pick up his face mask. The Predator looked at his face mask with disappointment when he noticed that there was a small crack that crossed over diagonally over the mask in a jagged crack. It would have to do, but he knew his screen would be cracked as a result.

As he exited the craft with his utility belt, his arm gantlets, his spear and his mask he dropped them on the jungle ground, balanced on his uninjured leg and looked at his shoulder. He could tell he had dislocated it and placed a hesitant hand over his arm and pushed it back into place. The Predator clicked loudly in pain as the bones snapped back to where they once were. He moved his arm experimentally and winced at the blunt pain and small movement it gave him.

The Predator looked at his surroundings with resentment. Although the jungle and the heat reminded him a little of his home planet, he did not want to be injured in a place that could very well turn against him. He knew his procedure was to remain with the craft, and he did so for several hours before his wrist computer beeped loudly. He flicked it upon and read the transmission that had been received.

 **/Proceed to the rendezvous point. You have been detected./**

The Yautja sent his reply and looked at the coordinates he had been given. It would be a small walk, and he was thankful. Using his spear as a walking stick, he began to make his way to where he was instructed to, hobbling slowly. He stopped for a moment to clasp his utility belt around his hips and placed his face mask on and as suspected the screen was cracked, but it was a hairline.

He heard what sounded like scurrying and he looked back at the craft just in time to see the facehugger run across the surface of the broken craft and stop on top of the ship as if it was staring at him. He balanced on one leg and threw the spear at the facehugger as accurately as he could in his state of pain. The facehugger jumped and took off into the jungle as the spear embedded itself in the hull of the ship.

He looked venomously in the direction the facehugger took off and made his way to retrieve his spear. Leaning against the ship he yanked it out, his shoulder and knee protesting. He flicked open his wrist computer and hailed his fellow Yautja.

 **/The parasite is in the jungle/**

There was silence and then.

 **/Make your way to the ship. I will resolve it/**

 **/Affirmative/**

With a guilty feeling residing deep into his stomach that he was not able to kill the facehugger, the injured Predator made his way to the location of his fellow Yautja's craft. He walked for what seemed an eternity and managed to make good time until he reached an incline that bordered a small ravine. He looked ahead to see that the more the earth tilted, the deeper the ravine got. He heard the sound of rushing water and noticed the small river below; he also saw the forest become denser with trees as he continued to hike along the ridge.

A small patch of loose soil was all that it took to send the injured Predator into the ravine with a roar as he rolled down out of control. His body thundered down like a boulder as he hit trees and rocks on his way down; none of them aiding him as he tumbled down the steep hill. He reached the bottom and felt his knee scream in agonizing pain as he lay on his side. The pain engulfed him, and his vision turned white as he moved into a sitting position before the shock took over and rendered him unconscious.

* * *

 _Present..._

Rain absently looked at the river in boredom as Tanya and Mileena were discussing the ravine as a possible place for their army to camp nearby. Rain wasn't particularly interested in anything that the ex-Kahnum was discussing with his fellow Edenian and instead wanted to return to his own tent to rest. He thought that trekking in the jungle was beneath an Edenian Prince's status, something more befitting of servants; however, Mileena had requested he come for his opinion, and he had to humor her for now.

Using his powers he changed the flow of the current in the opposite direction for a section of the water, after a few seconds he sighed in boredom and went to catch up with the women. He thought he had seen movement in the trees but turned too slowly to catch what it was. The corner of his mouth tugged in disappointment from behind his purple face mask, but he dismissed whatever it had been.

"We should start making our way back, Empress," Tanya informed her.

"Yes, dearest Tanya, we shall soon," Mileena answered, her clawed hands on her hips as she surveyed the ravine with a nod. "I want to see what else is here."

Rain rolled his eyes and suppressed a groan of annoyance from behind. He continued to follow them like an impatient child though he did well not to convey it physically. They continued to walk over the stones by the water's edge until it started to taper and flow lightly. Tanya who had been looking about the jungle caught the sun gleaming off of something metallic, and she looked to see that they were not alone.

"Mistress," Tanya said, catching Mileena and Rain's attention. Tanya pointed to the large muscled humanoid figure leaning against the rocks of the river; his legs were submerged, but Tanya could notice that his knee was swollen and bruised. Mileena smiled wickedly and lowered the cloth face mask to reveal her Tarkatan teeth.

" _Well_... what have we here?" she said out loud, her voice dripping in a dangerous but flirtatious tone. Rain narrowed his eyes at the beast and looked at Tanya for clarification however she looked as confused as he did. They walked towards the unconscious humanoid and Rain noticed that Mileena seemed more interested than she should be.

"I do not trust this... _thing_ ," Rain announced to Tanya.

Tanya looked at him and shrugged. "Let her toy with her food, Rain— she always does." Rain refrained from saying anything else and decided to let things take their course.

The Predator had been awake for some time now and had heard them approach. He heard their footsteps in the water and like a crocodile with its mouth open for prey he had his arm blades ready and off to his side; waiting patiently for them to come to him.

Mileena looked at the injured, bulky creature with the anticipation of a cat with a cornered mouse; she took out her Sais and swung her hips seductively as she approached him. The Predator looked at her with revulsion behind his facemask but remained still.

"So handsome... so alone... and so _helpless_ ," Mileena chided in a provocative manner. Rain and Tanya looked from afar as Mileena had her fun. Rain had learned to accept her games and just allow her to play them long ago. Tanya on the other hand was a bit apprehensive as she watched Mileena approach the muscled man closer. Perhaps Rain was right; something did not seem right.

Mileena looked at the seemingly unconscious creature with a pleased smirk, twirling her Sais in her hand she crouched down until she was straddling the creature's hips. It took every ounce of patience for the Predator not to kill her right then and there for her audacity; his fist tightened in anger.

He shifted slightly as pain throbbed through his knee once again, aggravated by her sitting on him. She placed a sai across his throat and looked at his face mask with curiosity, and he continued to wait until she dropped her guard. He felt her run a clawed hand down his chest; her fingers hooking into the netting material he wore before he felt her tap the tip of her other sai against the forehead of his mask. His eye twitched in indignation. He saw her grin evilly, her yellow eyes lit with amusement.

"Let's see you," Mileena said, her hands reaching for the wires that attached the mask.

"Empress..."

"Silence Tanya!" Mileena spat. "I wish to see it's face."

Tanya shifted uncomfortably in her spot and Rain had an eyebrow raised at the situation, a look of disgust behind his mask. Another flash caught his peripheral and once again he missed what it was. He heard the sound of air escaping. He looked as Mileena tugged the last wire free and removed the cracked facemask from its face.

The way her face immediately dropped in disappointment and disgust was almost comical when she saw he was hideous than her—which was debatable for the Predator. The Predator couldn't help but laugh triumphantly and maliciously when she realized her error: that she had walked into a trap.

She screamed in agonizing pain the Predator pummeled her with his blades over and over into her chest while his other hand held on to her shoulders. A look of complete surprise instantly formed on her pained face that the Predator took in with complete satisfaction.

Tanya gasped in horror while Rain took a defensive stance. He gave her one last stab to the side of her head, blood pouring out of her mangled mouth and chest while it coated his legs, twisted the blades and pulled them out. He tossed her off him and rose to stand painfully, gripping his spear in his hand to face the other two.

Seeing that the potential hosts were in danger of being exterminated, the Xenomorph decided now was a better chance than any to collect what it could to bring back to the hive. He screeched and leaped from the tree and landed with a hard splash in the river. All turned in the direction of the noise and the Xenomorph approached them snarling from the river, water glossing over his form as he climbed to the bank and revealing more and more of himself.

"I will handle this one," Rain said, making his way towards the black serpent.

Tanya turned towards the Predator with a seething expression, her teeth gritted. She withdrew her scythes and charged him. He swung his spear at her head, but she lunged low and sliced at his damaged knee, she cut deep into his thigh, and he buckled involuntarily.

Even on his knees he still was about the same height as her but pain flared on the damaged knee he was balanced on. He brought his spear up to block her scythes as she tried to bring them down on him.

He twisted the spear to the side and managed to knock the weapons from her hands. They clattered away uselessly while he delivered a bone crushing punch to her exposed stomach. She howled in pain and clutched her stomach protectively, bending over just enough for him to deliver a vicious backhand against her face. She went sailing face first into the water and felt her jaw unhinge when she hit a rock that had been hiding underneath.

Tanya slowly rose to get up and felt a claw hand flip her over on her back and the Predator, who balanced on his one good leg, reached down and grabbed her by the throat. She gasped for air as her legs dangled over the water, her jaw exploding in pain and causing her vision to grow fuzzy.

Tanya wrapped her leg around the outside of his arm and brought her other foot up to his chin, sending pain through his jaw as his head snapped back. The Predator's mandibles clicked together, and he shook his head in pain, but he didn't release his hold on her. She continued to kick him, and she persisted until he noticed the blunt rock she had landed on earlier. He raised his arm as high it could go with her dangling on it and brought her head down on the rock as hard as he could.

He lifted her up, water falling off her and saw her eyes roll in the back of her head; blood is dripping from her broken scalp. He did it once more, and the water turned red from blood, the back of her head completely smashed in. He let her go unceremoniously and felt his hand coated in her blood. He looked to find the male fighting the serpent that he had in some suspended water bubble, the black serpent screaming silently trying to claw his way out.

Rain noticed that Tanya was no longer with him and turned to see the Predator limping towards him while he had the serpent encased in his trap. Summoning the powers bestowed to him by his father Argus, Rain blasted the creature with lightning while he continued to suspend the other. The Predator vibrated violently as the volts ran through him, and Rain smirked. He ceased his lightning attack as an idea came to his mind and grinned as the Predator stumbled back in pain, electricity running over his body.

Rain brought his outstretched hand around and swung the bubble at the Predator. Water exploded around him, and the Predator felt something slam into him knocking them both on the ground. Rain smiled behind his face mask seized his opportunity and ran off into the jungle.

The Predator rolled until he was on top of the Xenomorph and brought his arm blades down, stabbing the Xenomorph in the chest, it shrieked at him in pain. His mandibles flared out as he roared in pain when he felt the spear tip tail impale him through the shoulder he had dislocated earlier. The tail tore the Predator, and the Xenomorph used it to fling the heavy Predator off him. The Predator hit the rocks hard, feeling his back scream in agony but felt himself smile when he noticed that his spear sat within reach.

He grabbed it as the Xenomorph lunged through the air at him and stabbed itself on the tip of the spear. It shrilled angrily in pain and his tail whipped behind it. The Xenomorph's inner mouth detracted and retracted in poor efforts to reach him. The Predator watched as the serpent slowly slide down the spear from its weight, and he used his arm blades to pierce the creature's brain. It shuttered and died, and he twisted his arms blades out and pushed it off the side and the spear.

He looked down to see his arm blades melting from the acid and pressed a button on the side of the gantlet to release them. The spear was made and constructed from the bones of the Xenomorph, so the acid had no effect on it. He looked at the trophies around him but didn't want to take the time to flay and clean the—his priority was to reach the ship. He stood in more pain than he had previously been in and continued walk to the location of his brother's ship.

* * *

Far away from the encounter, Rain had taken rest by a tree with his hands on his knees. He finally caught his breath and straightened up with his back leaning against the vine covered tree for support. The Hydromancer allowed himself a small laugh at his fortune and dusted his hands.

A large trail of slime came down next to where he was standing and he looked up to see himself face to face with a set of teeth that had quietly made it's way down the tree when he wasn't paying attention. He felt a spiny tail wrap itself around his neck and pulled him up the tree while he screamed every Edenian curse he knew.

* * *

Jacqui had thought that being paired with Ferra/Torr would be annoying, but she was surprised that the deadly little girl upon Torr's shoulders remained quiet for most of the duration. Perhaps Ferra too was also a little uneasy about of the current situation they were in.

It had been Takeda's brilliant idea that one Earthrealmer should go with one Outworlder in search of the nest; the only exception was the team that consisted of D'Vorah, Kotal Kahn, Cassie and the Osh-Tekk warriors. Takeda was with Ermac and Kung Jin with Erron Black, who didn't seem too fond to be paired Jin from what she noticed. Everyone had given Takeda a look that let him know he would be beaten with a pillow case full of bars of soap when they got back to Earhrealm when Kotal Kahn agreed to the arrangement.

Ferra and Torr walked ahead of her, Ferra clinging tightly to Torr's shoulder as her head scanned around for any threats Torr could smash. Jacqui looked at her gloved arms with in boredom and sighed as she struggled to keep up with Torr's giant strides.

"You and Pretty Boy make kissy?"

Jacqui looked up at Ferra, who was looking in her direction over her shoulder. Jacqui's eyebrows furrowed at the question but then she smiled when she understood. "Yeah; we're together." Ferra nodded and looked around at the jungle as silence fell between them again. It was dusk, and Jacqui was beginning to notice the critters start to come out.

" _Well, this is awkward."_ Jacqui thought to herself as the silence between them dragged.

She looked at Ferra and decided to make an effort at small talk. "And you?" Jacqui asked, looking at Torr a little uncomfortably, "You... _make kissy_ with anyone?"

Ferra shook her head, "No one want Ferra," Her head dipped a little, and a sad look etched its way on her face. Jacqui gave her a warm and understanding smile.

"Don't worry, you're pretty Ferra. Someone will come along," Jacqui assured. Ferra's face a lit up at the comment. Abruptly, Ferra jumped off Torr and ran up to Jacqui. Ferra was a foot shorter than Jacqui so she leaned forward so Ferra could whisper something to her with her bladed hand cupped to the side of her face.

"Ferra like a boy but he big meanie when I try make nice!" Ferra said an angry look on her face at the memory before she gave Jacqui a look like a kid finding out she had the most brilliant idea in the world. "If he do again— Torr stomp guts out!" Torr grunted in approval.

Jacqui nodded with a queasy look on her face. Ferra smiled before jumping back on Torr's shoulders and Jacqui shook her head with the small but dubious smile on her face. They marched a little more ahead before Jacqui's head snapped up from tinkering with her arm cannons when she heard Torr roar. Jacqui shook her head and blinked her eyes at what she was seeing.

Whatever it was it was wounded; its blood was florescent green and dripped from the stab wound on his shoulder while his left leg was blue and black from the swelling on his knee. It's face was hideous. It had four mandibles that overlay one another that guarded a small, fanged mouth. Its yellow eyes were buried deep in it's massive skull that had dreadlocked hair that hung as limply as his head did as if he was having difficulty staying awake.

Despite the animosity in it's eyes, Jacqui could see the amount of pain and sadness in them, as if he knew he was dying. He had his weight braced on his other leg and resting half of his bodyweight on the spear that he was using as a walking stick that he was leaning on as a life raft in a storm. Disregarding his haggard appearance, he was built strong and imposing with a height that towered over her. He had beige skin coated in his blood as well as crimson from another and dark reptilian scales.

Ferra/Torr scowled at the beast before them, ready to fight and wondered who would make the first move. Jacqui's arm cannons whirred on, preparing for a fight that she hoped wouldn't happen. It seemed poor sport to her.

The Predator was incredibly weak, and he knew it was his last stand despite his stubbornness to survive; he had hope until he had run into the three. The symbiotic pair looked at him eager to finish him, but he would not make it easy for them. If there was one thing he had learned that was true for all the species he had encountered, was never corner an animal that had nothing left to lose. They would learn this lesson today.

He opened his wrist computer and communicated to the other Predator in the jungle one final transmission.

 **/For the glory of the hunt/**

Static erupted from the other end before he saw the words come on the screen. **/...Brother?.../**

He closed his wrist computer and whirled his spear expertly before he slammed the end to the ground in a show of aggression. He crouched as best as he could into a fighting position, picked up the end of the spear from the ground and pointed at them all as he released a roar, his mandibles flaring.

"He wants play, Torr!" Ferra cheered, a sadistic and excited smile on her face.

Torr roared back in approval and charged the Predator. Jacqui watched with concern from the sidelines; there was nothing she could do to stop this— it was what they both wanted.

The Predator rolled to the side as Torr charged him, Torr destroying trees in his way and turned to face the Predator again. The Predator stood and threw his spear as hard as he could at the beast and clicked in satisfaction when it landed on its shoulder. Torr roared in pain, nearly bucking Ferra off who held on, grabbed the spear in his hand and pulled it free, blood coating the tip.

With anger, he threw the spear down and rushed the Predator once more. The Predator braced himself; putting his arms up in a barrier that was broken the second Torr slammed his fists down on him. The Predator landed on his chest, both of the bones in his forearms broken before he felt the beast lift him and throw him like a doll. The Predator coughed green blood out his mouth when he rolled onto his back, the jungle floor vibrating as the beast came near to him.

"Slicey up Torr!" Ferra yelled.

As if they had rehearsed this before, Torr grabbed both the Predator's arms and stretched them to the sides, lifting him high, so the Predator was dangling at their mercy. The Predator could feel his wrists gantlets breaking in its grip as it held him high above the ground, he also felt the wound of his shoulder tear apart, and he roared in pain. After a moment he looked at them with a stubborn expression, he would accept his fate with a warrior's pride. Jacqui thought she saw something where the spear had been discarded but didn't catch it in time and frankly a little distracted by Ferr/ Torr.

The smaller human placed herself on the beast's shoulders and unsheathed her arms blades; he waited for the inevitable…

She stabbed the Predator through the skull and swung herself over his head. Using her body weight she sliced the Predator until he was split in half, blood spewed everywhere, and guts fell out of the holes in the Predator's body. Jacqui thought she had seen everything and stood in disgusted awe at what she saw. Torr tossed the pieces away, and Ferra jumped on his shoulders covered in green fluorescent blood telling Torr what a 'good boy' he was.

Jacqui frowned and found the entire thing in poor taste. She sighed a bit for the wounded alien that they had easily killed; it had been no contest for Ferra and Torr.

Jacqui noticed something flash behind Ferra and Torr but couldn't call out in time when another of the humanoids— this one not injured— dropped from the trees and with the discarded spear from the other alien stabbed Ferra through the back, out the chest and the tip of the staff exited out Torr's head.

Ferra cried out in pain as she grabbed where the spear had exited her and went slack after a couple of painful seconds. Torr fell forward to the ground, and the humanoid retracted the spear from their bodies with a hard jerk and looked in her direction.

Despite that this one had a face mask, she could tell by his hunched shoulders and the way he was breathing heavily, he was pissed.

She powered her arms cannons and prepared for a showdown. The Predator shrunk his spear and charged her and he saw her take a step back as he roared at her, his rage inconsolable as he witnessed his brother's death in the most dishonorable fashion he had ever witnessed.

He withdrew his arm blades and swung them at her, but she ducked. Jacqui's face was stern as she laid blow after blow on the exposed skin of his stomach. She might as well of been hitting a stone slab because her hands hurt even with the gantlets taking most of the brunt. He doubled over but regained himself and landed a brutal punch to her face that sent her spiraling into the tree behind her.

She cried out in pain as she slumped to the ground against the tree, her jaw screaming in agony. She felt him grab her ankle and pull her towards him, with a determined look she bent her arms and brought her boot up and struck him across the face. She rolled over until she was crouching as he stumbled back a little. She drove forward, flew through the air with her hand back and delivered a blow to the side of his head. She tucked and rolled just in time to see his foot connect with her face. Her head snapped back, and she fell to the ground with a cry of pain, she tasted blood in her mouth and knew her nose was broken.

She opened her eyes to see his foot come down across her throat and pin her to the ground. She wiggled underneath him to get free, even punching him in the calves, but he held her down easily.

He re-opened his spear and looked at a spot on her stomach. Fear flooded her, and she looked up at him with pleading eyes that the Predator was a little disgusted by. She should accept her death with integrity. He raised his arm, ready to end her when his scanners picked up the reason for her begging.

He saw life growing within her; small, but it was enough to make him hesitate.

He was furious, but he knew it was disgraceful to kill a mother with young growing in it. He clicked angrily, wanting to ignore his morals and take revenge on the ones that killed his brother but he couldn't. He would be banished if the elders had heard such a dishonorable thing especially since he had been the aggressor. He looked at her again; she was breathing heavily under his foot and persisted with giving him that look. She must have known as well, and he hung his head in exasperation at the thought.

The Predator released his foot and retracted his spear, leaving her very confused on the ground. He stormed off angrily, passing by the dismembered corpse of his brother and walked off into the jungle.

Jacqui watched him go and felt relief course through every vein in her body as she sat up. Her eyes looked around the jungle, wondering where she should go from there.

* * *

 **A/N:** _To be honest I never planned to make her pregnant but I always enjoyed the theme of Aliens being about motherhood, and there was a character from Predator 2 that was pregnant, so I'm paying a little homage to both. Don't get to comfortable with thinking Jacqui is in the all clear because Takeda made her preggers_ — _there are still Aliens bouncing around the jungle._

 _I recommend listening to 'Dumb Ways To Die' for Mileena's death because that was what I thought while I wrote it. I never liked Butterface, but I hope I still got her character ok though despite making her death a little forced. Now to answer your reviews..._

 _1\. You actually read my mind when you said I should pair them up. I was already planning on doing that which I hope you will enjoy more in the next chapter since it was Predator heavy in this chapter. I didn't use the pairings suggested because most of them were already mapped out in my head, but I put D'vorah with Cassie and Kotal. I was considering on putting Erron and Cassie together, but I already wanted to do a scene with Jin and Erron that I hope you guys will enjoy. Otherwise, I would have paired the two. As for the romance goes, I will try and do some moments with Takeda and Jacqui but this is not intended to be a love story. Sorry, I can't really help you out. :(_

 _2\. Justin, I'll think about it. :) *tosses Predator a cookie*_

 _3\. I think you'll be happy with what I have for the finale Ana, there will be old characters in that one. I hope Mileena, Rain, and Tanya were ok for now. Yes, there will be a nice body count to pile on._

 _4\. Nah...*jerks thumb at Alien* ...They're looking for him too._

 _Sorry about the long A/N and I hoped you enjoyed this chapter and let me know if you have any other suggestions in the reviews or if you prefer to PM. I will do the best I can but I'm sorry if I will not be able to get everything in the story._


	5. FLAY

**A/N:** _So before we start I would like to address something that may have been confusing that was pointed out by_ _BrutusSilentium_ _in the reviews._ _BrutusSilentium_ _is 100% right. They are not allowed to kill children._

 _The Predators are forbidden by their honor code to hunt the young, the sick, pregnant or the elderly. Unless they prove they can defend themselves and are of age they are off limits (except pregnant women even if they are armed). Since Ferra/Torr were able to kill a Predator and I assumed her closer to teenage years anyway because of the 'metamorphosis' she goes through in her ending I speculated that the Predator would have considered them fair game. I was never able to find out how old Ferra was so I decided to give it to the Predator._

 _I apologize for any confusion_. _It's my job as the writer to make things clear, and I failed to do that last chapter. Apologies._

 _Also, Mortal Kombat, Alien and Predator (copyright) their owners and I don't own them. *throws confetti unenthusiastically*_

* * *

 **Chapter 5: FLAY**

* * *

Rain woke to find himself bound to a wall, his feet dangling over the floor also constrained, in the most disgusting environment he had ever encountered. He groaned as he tried to adjust his eyes to his surroundings and grimaced when he saw the decomposing corpses of six other men with gaping holes in their chests.

He felt disgust go through him as he felt the slick, sticky white substance soak its way through his clothes and mat his hair. He preferred not to ponder what it could be but had an inkling when he saw the black form off to the side.

He looked at the gigantic black serpent that towered nearby with a flicker of fear; it was massive and imposing as it continuously drooled from its row of teeth. Rain could hear it breathe in pain as it continued to lay eggs one by one from the ovipositor it sat on. He looked at his hands that were bolted to the wall by the caked saliva of the beast and tried to free himself. He was quite stunned to find how solid and strong it was and leaned his head back against the cave wall in frustration.

He heard the sound of something peeling apart and he looked to see an egg hatching nearby. Dread built up within in his chest, and he tried harder to pull against his restraints but failed to free himself. The facehugger unraveled itself from within the egg and slowly climbed out; in no hurry to latch on to the prey that was not going anywhere. Rain let out a disheartened growl of anger as he watched the parasite slowly scramble its way out of the egg and scuttle to him.

He thought of teleporting, but there was no way his arms or legs would be coming with him, and he preferred them to stay attached. Thinking quickly he summoned lightning and aimed it at the facehugger. It exploded and he let out a sigh of relief.

The massive head of the Queen rose up and looked at him with a venomous snarl. Despite its lack of eyes, Rain could feel the weight of her scathing look. He saw more movement and turned, the Queen still fixed on him, and saw another egg was beginning to hatch. He glanced back at the Queen who seemed to be giving him a quizzical look; her massive crowned head tilting to the side as she hissed.

The Queen looked to a spot near her ovipositor and hissed at something unseen in the corner. Slowly he watched as the black serpent similar to the one who had taken him saunter from the shadows, stalking over to Rain's direction. The massive tubular head fixed back at the Queen like a son asking his mother for clarification. The Queen hissed and gave a miniscule nod to Rain. Rain's eyes shifted between the two, wondering what the monsters had planned for him.

He felt something crawl up his pants leg, and he looked down to see one of the parasites from the egg make its way like a tarantula over his chest, its fingers groping sharp and uncomfortable. He felt the tail wrap around his neck and his eyes bulged in alarm when the orifice started to part, and a tube try to secure itself in his mouth. His screams were muffled in protest as he felt the tube poking and prodding trying to break through the fabric with no avail. After what seemed like agonizing minutes of tension he heard the hiss of the Queen and felt the tail unwrap from its neck. The parasite withdrew its appendage, climbed over Rain's shoulder and clung to the wall off to the side.

The serpent made it's way over to Rain and alarm flooded over him; he didn't know what the creature wanted but knew it was nothing in Rain's favor. He summoned lightning once more and blasted the creature with it. It screeched in pain and flailed on the ground, the Queen roared at him for his actions, her bony hands begging to claw into his flesh as she waved them angrily from where she sat.

Unbeknownst, another one was climbing rapidly down the wall, saw what was happening, and speared Rain through the hand with his tail. Rain howled in pain, his hand cut nearly in half from the spear end of the tail. It pulled out its tail, and he groaned in pain. He could swear he saw the look of satisfaction on its face as it climb down closer to him and watched to see if Rain would do anything else.

The other serpent advanced on him, its lips quivering in rage and climbed to where he was. Rain had his head as back to the wall as it positioned itself in front of him and could only stare in trepidation as its mouth opened to reveal a small set of teeth inside. It shot out like a bullet and blasted a hole in his face mask— Rain screamed in pain.

The smaller set of teeth had destroyed most of his mouth, his bottom, and top lip nothing but mangled pieces of flesh and the gold and purple face mask now coated in blood. He gagged on his own blood and flesh, most of his falling to the floor of the cave as his head hung forward from the gaping hole that was once his mouth. He felt the creatures move away from him and the parasite return to shove its tube down his throat. A small gurgle of protest was all he could manage before he blacked out.

* * *

On the other side of the jungle, Cassie had her aviators on hailing her mother with the communicator; doing her routine check-in with the General.

"We're looking for the nest right now— I'll let you know if we find anything," Cassie said.

"Copy that," General Blade answered, "Any idea with what we are dealing with?"

Cassie sighed and looked back at Kotal Kahn and D'Vorah, who were discussing something she could not overhear. He had his Maquahuitl sword club across his back, and his arms crossed over his chest, but Cassie could tell he looked tired, the dawn not coming soon enough for the sun warrior. The remaining four Osh-Tekk warriors were standing nearby as they looked in the darkness of the jungle for any movement.

"Bug lady thinks it might be some sort of bug colony or hive or, whatever, I don't know," Cassie said, shaking her head. She frowned a little bit, "But whatever they are they are getting busy."

"Thanks for the image, Cass," she heard a familiar voice chime in, "So quite literally a bug hunt? Hope you didn't forget your OFF. Oh! Try it on D'vorah and let me know what happens!"

Cassie smiled as she overheard her father's voice in the background. "Hey, dad."

"Hey kiddo, how's hanging with Apocalypto and Arachnophobia?"

"Eh, ya know..." Cassie said with a shrug. Johnny laughed in the background and hummed the 'Itsy Bitsy Spider.' Cassie rolled her eyes but smiled.

"Knock it off Johnny."

"What'd I do? I'm just talking to our kid. Geez..."

Cassie heard her mother sigh in annoyance before she changed to a sterner voice; trying to get order back into place, "Continue Sergeant Cage."

Cassie cleared her throat. "We're split up right now. We have our radios on us if anyone finds the nest first. Priority is to destroy it before it gets out of hand."

"See that it is. Make sure to tie up any lose ends. Good hunting. General Blade out."

Cassie placed the communicator back in her pocket and searched her ear for her Bluetooth piece. She tapped the microphone end and activated it. **/Takeda. Got anything?/**

 **/Besides the heebee jeebees. No ma'am/** Takeda answered through the comm. link. Cassie smiled, she could only imagine especially with Ermac around.

 **/Jin. What's your status?/**

 **/Whistling** _ **Camptown Races**_ **at the moment./** Kung Jin said with sarcasm. Cassie rolled her eyes, understanding that they didn't find anything either.

 **/Cassie.../**

Cassie hesitated when she heard the distress in Jacqui's voice. **/Are you alright?/**

 **/Ferra and Torr are dead./**

The comm went silent for a moment before Takeda's concerned voice came over the radio. **/What happened?! Are you alright Jacqui?/**

 **/I'm fine Takeda. There's something here in the jungle and I don't think it's the same thing we're looking for./**

 **/What are we talking about?/** Jin asked.

 **/Some sort of reptile guy built like a brick-shit house** — **Don't worry you'll know when you see him** — **took out Ferra and Torr like they were nothing./**

Cassie's head leaned back in frustration at the news. **/Fan-fuckin'-tastic./** she groaned. She knew her friend and frowned slightly when she had to ask. **/You okay? He attack you?/**

There was a small pause on the other end as if she was looking for the right words to say. **/He... wasn't interested.../**

 **/I'll come find you Jacqui/** Takeda's voice interrupted, his voice overbearing with worry.

 **/I'm okay Takeda. I'll catch up** — **/**

 **/No Jacqui** — **where are you?/**

 **/I'm a big girl, Takeda! I'll find you!/**

There was a pause of silence before Jin cut through again. **/Awkward.../**

Cassie rolled her eyes. **/Jacqui, rendezvous with Takeda and Ermac. Jin, you and Erron Black keep on with what you're doing/** Cassie looked over at Kotal Kahn with an unenthusiastic grimace **. /I'm sure Kotal Kahn be thrilled to hear this./**

 **/Yes ma'am/** answered Takeda with a disappointed sigh.

 **/Copy/** Jin hailed back.

 **/Copy that Sergeant. And guys... keep your eyes peeled./** Jacqui said before she turned off her radio.

Cassie exited the comm. link and looked over once again at Kotal Kahn.

Kotal Kahn and D'vorah turned to see the Earthrealm ambassador approach them and Kotal couldn't help but frown at look on her face, as if she was the messenger of news he would not enjoy hearing.

"Ferra and Torr are dead..." Cassie said as the corner of her mouth tugged in disappointment; she gave him a sympathetic look. Kotal Kahn pupilless eyes grew a little wider, the arms he had crossed over his chest dropping in disbelief. D'vorah hardly had a reaction, a small look of stun, but a tiny one as if she didn't care.

The Emperor cursed in his native tongue, his tone sad and heavy with disbelief. He exhaled deeply, the news sinking in and looked at Cassie with a guarded disposition. "How did this happen?"

"They were attacked," Cassie answered.

"Attacked by what?" D'Vorah questioned, her tone coming across harsh. Cassie narrowed her eyes at D'Vorah, prepared to say something but decided not to.

"Was it the creature we seek?" Kotal Kahn asked.

"No. Jacqui thinks this is something else—something we haven't seen before," Cassie answered as best as she could. Kotal's head dipped a little, a look of deep concentration on his face.

"I believe this very well may be the creature that Reptile had thought he had seen watching us," Kotal Kahn looked at the trees. "I pray he has not befallen a similar fate as Ferra and Torr."

 _Oh, yeah that's right he went off somewhere..._

Cassie frowned; a small voice in the back of her head that wasn't exactly rooting for Reptile; how could he have taken it down if Ferra and Torr couldn't. She looked at the Kahn and gave him the best hopeful smile she could fake. "We'll find him if he's alive. He's probably around here somewhere..."

Her words did little to settle the Kahn's uneasiness for his Zaterran friend.

A scream of surprise startled them all, and they turned just in time to see one of the Osh-Tekk warriors being carried up the tree by something Cassie wouldn't have pictured in a bad acid trip. It was nightmarish and certainly not as cuddly as it was when it was a chestbursting little monster. It was black and boney and looked as slippery and smooth as the drool that poured out of its mouth continuously. It had it's long, sharp tail wrapped around the warrior as he screamed going up the tree. Before Cassie could pull her guns it had disappeared, his screams diminishing the higher it took him.

Screeching erupted, and they turned to see three more coming for them, all of them climbing down the trees with ease and landing on the forest floor. They stood on hind legs, and Cassie felt a little uneasy when they stood at its full height. Kotal Kahn removed the sword club from his back and watched the as creatures approached them, snarling with greedy clawed hands ready to grab what they could. The Osh-Tekk warriors backed in fear, their spears feeling a little useless in their hands.

Cassie pulled out her guns and cursed. "I liked them better when they were smaller and... _albino_."

Kotal Kahn gave her a look that seemed to agree with her statement.

Cassie noticed that while D'Vorah was in a defensive stance she saw a sly smile snake its way on her face as if she wanted this to happen. It pissed Cassie off— what was so special about these things to D'Vorah?

One of the Osh-Tekk warrior charged with his spear and had managed to impale the Xenomorph into its spiny, jutted ribcage, but it might as well of been a mosquito bite. The Xenomorph leapt on the Osh-Tekk warrior, and he screamed as it drooled over him and took him up into the trees.

Cassie fired at the second one that began to advance on them, its bullets hit its target, but it was taking a while for them to sink in. The Xenomorph's hide was naturally tough, and while it screeched in pain, it advanced on Cassie and Kotal Kahn. The Xenomorph leaped for the easiest target which was the smaller humanoid. It flew past Kotal Kahn running like a jaguar on the hunt. He swung his club but missed his target and felt the speared tail cut across his back as it passed him. He doubled over and watched as it advanced on Cassie.

Cassie let out a scream of surprise when the Xenomorph barreled into her with the strength of a sumo wrestler. She hit her head hard on the ground and began to see stars. She felt something sharp wrap around her ankles and drag her.

"Fuck!"

She looked down to see the spiny back of the Xenomorph start to carry her away to a tree. As calmly as she could she reached for another magazine and reloaded it and this time aimed for its head. Yellow blood exploded from the back of its head, and it screeched in pain. She felt the tail loosen from her ankles. However, the spear end cut across her calf, but she still took the opportunity to kick the tail off her and crab-walk away from it as fast she could.

She heard more screaming and saw another Osh-Tekk warrior being carried off into a tree, its hands trying to pry the hands off him with little avail. Cassie turned to see as the Xenomorph who still had a little bit of fight in him, snarl and tried army crawl it's way to her. She aimed her gun, but nothing happened.

"Are you shitting me?!" She yelled as she slammed on the bottom of the magazine and pulled the slide of the gun, trying to fix the jam; she looked up to see it getting closer. However, it didn't make it far when Kotal Kahn's club smashed on its head, finishing the job. The Xenomorph's lips flickered before it went slack.

Kotal Kahn pulled out the club, noticed the acid was eating through it and with a grumble threw it to the ground; now useless. Kotal Kahn came to Cassie's side and offered her a hand. Cassie breathed a sigh of relief and accepted it, letting him pull her to her feet.

"Thanks," Cassie said. Kotal Kahn said nothing but nodded. They looked to see lucky Osh-Tekk warrior run to them, a look of fear on his face. Cassie, Kotal Kahn, and one last Osh-Tekk warrior were all that remained in their party, and as Cassie looked around, she felt a frown etch itself onto her face out of suspicion and not concern.

"Umm... Where'd D'Vorah go?"

* * *

The Xenomorph dragged its unconscious host towards the area of the nest. It lifted its head and sensed the air for any prey in the vicinity. Not feeling anything it tilted it's head down and trekked on, the unconscious victim dragging harshly and carelessly through the jungle floor.

Suddenly a presence appeared before him, and he snarled at the creature that stood in its way; a strange, female humanoid. As he prepared to attack whatever this creature was, he heard a strange noise of cricketing and chattering that was vaguely familiar to him penetrate him and he shook his head at it. It was irritating, and he did not understand it.

It increased in annoyance and sound, intensifying and overwhelming its senses. It shook his head, letting out a heaving growl; the more he tried to rid himself of the sound the more it grew. He knew his siblings could hear it as well, and they buzzed what was happening to him, but he could barely register it. It started to diminish, and he could hear the voice of something that was not a part of the hive speaking to him.

 _"...This one greets you..."_

He hissed once more at the creature, understanding now what happening. How dare this prey think itself equal to communicate with the hive! It's inner mouth shot out in anger at her as it snarled. The humanoid seemed more amused than frightened, and it sent hatred through it. It would make it pay! It was prey! The prey would have it's flesh ripped and eaten!

 _"...Much hatred you have... This one also belongs of a hive... I merely wish to learn more of your kind..."_ said the humanoid as she placed her hand over her chest and gave a humble bow to him. He hissed angrily at her gesture of peace.

His siblings chimed in, also furious at the creature's demand.

 _...Prey!..._

 _...Rip!..._

 _...Feast!..._

 _... Bring!..._ The voice of the Matriarch commanded. It stopped hissing when it heard the Matriarch's request. This was not the way things were supposed to happen. It would tear the creature apart...

 _...BRING!..._ came the Matriarch again. It snarled in contempt but knew it had to obey. It looked at the strange creature with animosity for a moment before it passed her and allowed her to follow it to the nest.

D'vorah gave a satisfactory grin as the Xenomorph led her to the nest by order of the Queen. She had lied to the moronic creatures. She was not there to learn more of them.

She was there to devour them.

* * *

Anger flooded the Predator as he stalked from his position in the trees, annoyed by his incompetence to locate a simple Hive Drones nest. His wrist computer buzzed loudly, and he saw the letters flicker before they reached the screen with clarity.

 **/More Hive Drones are breeding. You are failing./**

He growled irritably at his computer. **/Humans have made the breeding flourish. Permission to destroy area if Hive is not contained./**

 **/Granted. Destroy the Hive or destroy the area. Leave nothing./**

He flicked his wrist computer angrily and looked at the canopy of trees below, the dawn starting to rise over the horizon as well as the temperature. His scanners searched to pick up any sign of movement for drones below. He would prefer not to destroy the area; it was an acceptable hunting ground, and he still wished to hunt after he destroyed the nest. He still wanted the alpha, and his skull would have an excellent place amongst his collection of trophies.

His audio receptors picked up something; a strange chirping like that of a bird and his scanners zoomed in on the location of the noise. He saw two heat signatures walking together in the jungle— humans by the looks of it. He recorded the sound and played it over and over, testing it to see if it would be an appropriate hunting call.

The thought of the hunt soared through him, but he reminded himself that his mission was to destroy the Hive Drones. He gave the heat signatures one last glance and an excuse crossed into his head. He had not searched in that part of the jungle yet and perhaps he could accomplish both tasks.

He agilely jumped from tree to tree and made his way in that direction.

* * *

Erron Black considered himself an extremely patient individual when it came to certain things, but even he had his limits; especially when it came to his personal pet peeves.

He had recalled a dark frown behind his face mask when he was paired with Kung Jin but did his best not to express his feelings in front of the Kahn; the Emperor had other important things to worry about.

However, the more they progressed towards the gorge, himself leading ahead, he was considering asking Kotal Kahn to up his pay if he was able to restrain himself from throwing Kung Jin off the bridge once they got to it.

The punk had not stopped whistling the entire time they were together, and that so happened to be number one on his list of small pet peeves. As they moved through the thick brush, Erron would purposely swing branches behind him so they would hit Jin but much to the gunslinger's displeasure, he was able to block them easily and continue whistle lightly. The tunes he was whistled were inconsistent and irritating—and he swore he heard _Camptown Races_ at one point. Erron began to feel his jaw grow stiff from how hard he was gritting his teeth; doing his best not to say anything.

As the sun started to rise, an orange autumn coating the jungle in its light and the Shaolin persisting, Erron had enough.

Kung Jin who had been lost in his thoughts heard the click of Black's hammer pulling back and a revolver aiming right at his forehead. He looked at it unimpressed but confused to why he had drawn his gun on him.

"Knock. It. OFF," was all that Erron could muster angrily through his gritted teeth.

Kung Jin raised an eyebrow at him and blinked blankly at him. "Knock what off?"

"It is bad enough that I have to be paired with you but continue to be a noisy little shit, and you'll be whistling to your grave," Erron warned.

Kung Jin smirked at him like a kid who had been caught but couldn't care less, "You're just mad because I beat you," Jin smiled arrogantly. "You must learn to let go of the past, my friend."

Erron was having a hard time not pulling the trigger and instead, opted for narrowing his eyes into a hard, impatient glare.

"You looked like an easy target, you won't get so lucky next time," he clarified with an arrogant tone that was intended to offend.

Jin frowned in response; it had worked.

Jin returned to the glare, offended and shrugged at him aggressively, "Why wait till next time?"

"Don't push me, kid," Erron warned, he de-cocked the revolver but walked forward. He couldn't kill him, but he wanted it to be clear to Jin that he was the one in charge. Jin could see what his intention was and stubbornly returned the favor until they bumped chests like a couple of roosters, both of them unrelenting. "How bout I push you off a bridge?" Jin questioned challengingly.

"You best back off," Erron warned, his hat shadowing the Shaolin's face as he looked down at the kid that was a couple of inches shorter.

"Or what?" Jin grinned, lifting his chin in defiant confidence, "I'm not afraid of hitting an old man—again,"

"It'll be the last mistake you'll ever make," Black growled vehemently.

"Bring it on cowboy," Jin said, slamming his staff purposely by his feet in a show of dominance.

Jin genuinely thought he was going to attack him until he saw his blue eyes shift over his shoulders that caused his eyes to widen and bring his gun over Jin's shoulder and fire. Erron pushed him out of the way, and Jin could have sworn he saw something white sail over his head.

Jin rolled back to his feet, the gunshot that was so close to his ear that it took a couple of seconds for the ringing to clear. He looked up to see Erron struggling to detach the crab-thingy that had latched onto his face, with its tail around the thick layer of poncho around his neck. His screams were muffled in the panic, but he could hear him shout at him: "GET IT OFF!"

Jin, albeit a little reluctantly, climbed to his feet and helped by trying to pull the tail from around his neck. Jin was astounded by how strong it was and clung to Erron's neck as strong as springs in a bear trap. He had lost his hat and his gun lay off to the side, so he could try to sneak his fingers under the belly of the bug and use them to pry it away from his face as the facehugger fought its own battle to shove the tube down his mouth with no luck— his face mask saving his life for the moment.

When the facehugger realized that he would not be able to lodge the tube into it's potential victim's throat, he turned to the only one it could accomplish it with.

Jin felt the tail whip from Erron's neck and latch on to his faster than he could register. His hands instinctively went to his neck to pull the suffocating tail off. He brought one of his hands up and pushed against the facehugger as it unlatched itself from Black's face and tried to make its way over to Jin's. Jin felt alarm run through his as Erron did his best to hang on to the slippery facehugger; it's legs bending eagerly to latch on to Jin's head. After a few agonizing seconds, Jin coughed for air as he managed to unwrap the tail from his neck, and they were left holding the alien wondering what course of action to take next.

"Now what?!" Jin yelled. Even with both of them, the facehugger fought them wildly and with more strength they didn't think it could have; Black with the body in his hand and Kung Jin trying to control the tail.

"Throw it!" Erron shouted his voice heavy in alarm as he began to feel the facehugger start to slip.

"On three!" Jin shouted back, nodding his head to the side. "One! Two! THREE!"

Simultaneously they threw it as far as they could away from them. As the facehugger flew through the air, Erron expertly reached into his holster and grabbed the other revolver. The facehugger landed harshly but before he could presume it's attack it was killed by Erron's bullets.

Erron and Jin both exhaled in relief, Jin placing his hands on his knees as he hunched over while Black panned around looking at the jungle for any more. Jin rubbed his neck where the facehugger's tail had latched on and gulped. "That was a little too close."

"Enough games," Erron grumbled, picking up his hat and dusting it off, "Let's find the nest and get out of this damn jungle."

"Sounds fine to me," Jin agreed with a nod.

He retrieved his staff, and Black placed his fallen gun back in his holster, his other gun still out and ready. They marched through the jungle with Erron in the lead once more. As they came closer, they heard the sound of a waterfall and found themselves at a shallow gorge with a river below it.

The continued to hike along the ridge until Jin saw the outline of the bridge in the distance. Well... _bridge_ was hardly the word to describe the wide, thick, fallen tree that looked rotted and old that lay between the cliffs. Jin frowned at it; the whole bridge screamed _'don't cross me, I suck.'_

Erron was the first to cross the bridge, his boots heavy as the echoed over the surface of the wood with the waterfall roaring in the backdrop. Jin followed hesitantly behind, checking behind him as he passed. They had made it halfway through when they heard something heavy scratching it's way towards them. They looked behind them to see what they had been looking for snarling and drooling at them from the end of the bridge. Erron grimaced as he looked at the adult version of the chestburster and wished they had remained small.

"Well you got uglier," Erron chided, pointing his gun at it. The Xenomorph hissed at them.

"Great. Now you hurt its feelings," Kung Jin sarcastically added as he pulled an arrow from his quiver.

The Xenomorph charged for them, snapping and drooling as it used it's clawed hands and feet to move itself on all fours, the back of its tail creating a horrible scratching sound against the surface of the bridge. Jin and Black fired at it, Jin's arrows embedding itself into its chest as Erron fired bullets into its chest. It shrieked in pain so loud they barely heard the scratching coming from the other end of the bridge.

They looked to see another making its way towards Erron side. Now back to back with Jin, Black brought his other gun out and fired at the Xenomorph coming for him as Jin took care of the other one with his arrows.

Kung Jin saw his Xenomorph take shelter underneath the tree and advanced to him out of the way of Jin's arrows and scurry under the bridge.

"You coward, that's cheating!" Jin cried with annoyed frustration, seeing the outline of the head coming closer to him. The Xenomorph sprung from under the bridge and before he knew it was on him already pinned him down.

He used his bow staff to lay across its neck as he tried to push it away from him, drool landing on him as it hissed at him. He felt it's claws digging into his arms and the nocked tips of his arrows dig painfully into his chest and legs as he struggled against the weight of it; trying to use his feet to push it off him. He smelt sulfur burning next to his feet on the bridge from it's acidic blood and prayed silently that none fell on him.

He barely dodged the inner mouth that sprung at him from inside the rows of teeth and heard the smaller set of teeth snap loudly by his ear. It retracted, and he saw it come for him again this time it nicked him slightly before bouncing off his metal headpiece. He cried out in pain as his cheek burned.

With an angry look, Jin used his free hand to reach into his quiver; the arrows were pinned by his weight, but he managed to grab a small bundle and thrust them into the side of the Xenomorph's head. It's lips quivered a bit, and it went slack. Jin threw the monster off him and watched it as it fell to the water below. He grasped his cheek that bleed heavily from the small chunk of flesh it had been ripped.

Erron's revolvers clicked, and he cursed as he placed them back in his holsters and felt for the rifle on his back. He pumped the lever-action with his thumb while he fired and walked back with each shot. The Xenomorph was riddled with bullets but still advanced on him. It opened it's mouth and showed it's smaller inner mouth, and he got an idea.

Kneeling with the rifle aimed he let it come to him before he aimed and fired. His bullet tore through the inner mouth and exited out. Erron smiled behind his mask but felt a frown instantly form on his face when he watched Xenomorph hit the wood of the bridge, and the acid began to eat through the rotted wood quickly. "Shit."

Kung Jin noticed what was happening and looked at the back of Erron's head with a look of extreme disapproval and annoyance. "I hate you."

On cue, the bridge began to buckle and break, and Black spun and pushed Jin forward. "MOVE!"

As they reached the near, the ledge they just came from the bridge teetered dangerously, and they found themselves running at a steep incline. Kung Jin jumped and landed back on solid ground on the ledge just before the entire bridge became vertical. Erron threw his rifle towards the ledge and made his best effort for the overgrowth on the side of the wall.

Jin looked for Black to see his hands frantically trying to grasp onto the ledge. Jin slid on his stomach and grabbed onto the gunslinger's hands before he lost his grip and almost fell into the gorge. Jin grimaced under his weight and looked over the ledge to see him dangling. Erron, with Jin's help, began to pull himself up while he braced his boots against the wall.

Jin heard the sound of something heavy land behind him and he looked over his shoulder to see three laser dots aim at his forehead. He let go of Erron and joined him dangling on the cliff as the ground exploded.

Black cursed but managed to grab the ledge before Jin let go and glared angrily at him before his hat blew off as dirt and rock flew into his face, blinding Erron for a moment. He felt himself falling before he managed to grab onto something with both hands.

Jin groaned in pain as Black suddenly grabbed his ankles; Jin's arms shaking as his hand burned from the friction of sliding down the vine. Jin looked up to see the massive humanoid with the face mask looking down at them.

 _Oh... so_ _ **that's**_ _the brick-shit house..._

Kung Jin looked at the river that was beginning to look like a fluffy cloud of pillows. "Let go!" Jin yelled to the gunslinger.

"What?! No—" Erron Black had managed to get his eyesight back and looked up to see the problem was. His eyes bulged when he saw a massive figure with a cannon on it's shoulder's began to power it up and aim it at them. He let go without complaint and Jin followed after that.

They both screamed the way down. Erron Black falling head over heels uncontrollably as well as Jin, who almost landed on top of him.

He hit the bottom of the river and felt his back scream in agony. Jin cried out underwater as his arm snapped from landing on a rock. They gasped for air and instinctively looked back at the ledge to see the humanoid was not following them as the river carried them farther away; both of them swimming with the current trying to keep their heads over the water.

The Predator was almost about to jump in after them, but his scanner caught the gleaming black form of something across the gorge. Usually hive drones were about the same size and weight if it was within their class (either a scout or a warrior class or the Queen) so when he saw this warrior drone he knew something was off about it.

It was bigger and bulkier than the other warrior drones and while it drooled like all the others, instead of being slick and smooth it perspired heavily over its body, as if a heavy downpour coated it and the drops rolled off him. It snarled at him from the bank and tilted it's head as if it was challenging him; seemingly thinking it was the alpha predator. He aimed for it, the three dots landing on the surface of his head and fired. The creature ducked and took off into the jungle, and the Predator clicked in thought at what he saw.

He looked at the river and then to where the hive drone took off. He made his way along the gorge to see if there was a way to cross it and pursue the very interesting hive drone. The humans would have to wait...

They finally reached shore, and both of them collapsed onto the bank, Erron who had managed to find his hat in the water, slapped it against his pants to dry as Jin was looking at his swelling in his forearm on all fours. It hurt, and he gritted his teeth as he placed his head to the mud of the bank. He had lost his staff as well, and he cursed when he realized it.

Erron Black picked himself up and sat on the mud, adjusting his soaking wet hat on his head with displeasure. Jin joined him, sitting next to him and looking down at his forearm. He saw Jin's arm quivering in pain and guessed he most of broken it in the fall.

After a couple minutes of silence, Kung Jin was the first to speak up.

"I wonder how everyone else is doing..." he said, for once his voice not caring a humorous tone.

Takeda and was not having a great time. Ermac on the other hand was hard to tell since he gave the same deadpan expression as he lifted one of the black dragon-things up and gave it's body a sharp, unnatural twist.

Ermac spread his arms and the Xenomorph ripped apart; it corpse flying as the acid coated the trees around him. Ermac looked down when he heard sizzling and noticed that some of the creature's blood hand fallen on his shoulder. Effortlessly and without a word, he ripped apart the piece of cloak that had been affected and tossed it aside, the mummified skin showing through the hole of clothing in his shoulder. It burned a hole in his skin slightly, but he didn't show any reaction to it.

* * *

Takeda heard snarling and turned to see another coming at him. He swung his whips and watched as one wrapped into the neck of the creature. He flicked the switch by his thumb, and one by one the shards emerged on his whip and they penetrated into the flesh of the Xenomorph.

It had a price, though, and Takeda frowned as the acid began to eat through the metal of the whip. The whip melted and snapped before he could lash out with the other whip, and the Xenomorph came at him again.

He cried out in pain as the tail of the creature slammed heavily against his stomach and sent him sailing into a tree. He hit the tree with a pained groan and rolled on the ground until he was on his stomach, his whips lying by his sides. He looked up to see it making it's way to him with a screech on all fours, a necklace of blood dripping from its throat.

It suddenly shrieked out in surprise as a green bind grabbed it by the tail and pulled it back. Ermac who was floating nearby and with the same stoic expression levitated the Xenomorph into the air and watched it scream and writhe wildly, unsure of what was happening to it.

Ermac twisted his hand to the right with the flick of his wrist and watched as the head of the Xenomorph turned all the way around. He dropped the dead creature with a thud. Takeda breathed a sigh of relief from behind his Shirai Ryu face mask and planted his head on the ground.

"Can I go home yet?" Takeda asked, moaning tiredly into the jungle floor.

* * *

 **A/N:** _I took pity this time and gave all the deaths to the Xenomorphs... and Rain but you all knew that was coming. I wanted more action for the team this time before all the drama kicks in again._

 _In case, you're confused on how many Xenos are left..._

 _We started out with a Queen and six Xenos. One for each Black Dragon guy (6).  
One of the Predators killed one (5 left)  
After Rain died, Cassie and Kotal-Kahn-ex-machina killed one (4)  
Erron and Jin took out two (2)  
and Ermac being a badass took out two (0).  
Xenos took two Osh-Tekks and Rain so now there is a grand total of (3 + the Queen = 4 Xenos left)  
*drop kicks calculator* _

_Sorry for the long A/N. Hoped you enjoyed the chapter, let me know what you thought about it in the reviews and see you next chapter._


	6. TROPHY

**Chapter 6: TROPHY**

* * *

 _Earlier..._

The Kytinn Queen walked behind the ill-tempered Xenomorph with a permanent grin on her face. Ever since she saw the chestburster she had wanted to learn more of the creatures that were deadly from birth; to be that lethal at a larva state— she had to know more of them. However when she saw the adult version she knew what course of action she would have to take. They were not intelligent creatures from the little she saw; just drones following the orders of the Queen. When she delved into their minds she saw nothing but scathing hatred that clouded any room for rational thought.

D'Vorah wasn't worried about the Queen; she merely thought of her as a necessary obstacle to gain control of this hive. Even now as the drone led her to the nest with the unconscious Osh-Tekk, her smaller gnats set to work on the drone. She had let the smallest of her children wander from her hand and crawl their way up the Xenomorph to find orifices to plant themselves in. Like an Amazonian fungus, they would latch on to it and overpower it's mind, leaving it susceptible to the control of the hive and in theory unwillingly surrendering to the whims of the Brood Mother. She could tell that the Xenomorph detected something; he shook it's tubular head and gave a snarl, but ignored it and continued.

She would do this to the Queen as well if she could attempt it. If not she would kill her any other Xenomorphs that rebelled and be devoured by her children where they would gain the Xenomorph's powers from their dead corpses.

When they reached the cave, the Xenomorph looked back at her and gave a scowl while it tipped its head towards the cave opening as if commanding her to go in first. She smiled and removed the hood from her head as she walked towards the entrance. The Xenomorph snapped its jaws at her when it felt her run her hand down its head like it was her pet. She pulled her hand away in time and just smirked, entertained by at its reaction.

The Xenomorph let out a pained grunt and shook its head, trying to clear itself of whatever alien buzzing was going on its head. It hurt, and it confused him. Regaining control for a moment, he followed D'Vorah in and obeyed his objective to secure the host.

It was hard to see in the cave, and D'vorah did her best to avoid the eggs strewn about the floor, however, she still accidently bumped into one and caused it to hatch.

D'Vorah looked down at it with fascination and knelt down to watch. She watched as the tail unraveled itself from around its body and the legs flare and stretch. It sensed a potential host above it and prepared to spring onto it when a deafening hiss came from the Matriarch not to.

D'Vorah looked to the end of the cave to see the massive figure of the Queen Xenomorph staring venomously at her. Already she could sense it's pain as it laid egg after egg slowly from the sack it sat on. D'Vorah relished in the fact that the Queen was immobile despite it's dominating figure that caused D'Vorah to hesitate for a moment. She had to say that the Queen was impressive and it would be a shame to destroy such a worthy mother but there could only be one Queen to control the hive and D'Vorah was determined to secure herself as the victor.

D'Vorah stood back up and approached the Queen, she gave a bow like a servant would for a master, and looked at her with a false smile the Xenomorph Queen did not like.

 _"... You will_ _ **perish**_ _..."_ The Queen spat at her, the maternal voice hissing like an ill-tempered viper through the connection D'Vorah had initiated. D'vorah gave the Queen a confused look, she had not expected this reaction but reminded herself not to falter.

The Queen lifted her crowned head high at her. _"...You think I know not your intentions?... You are similar and_ _ **inferior**_ _to us... Hive Mother..."_

D"Vorah looked at the Queen stunned and apprehensive; she had not thought the Queen to be as intelligent as she was. D'Vorah decided to play as innocent as she could until she could regain an opportunity to lower the Queen's guard down.

 _"...This one knows not what you mean...I come with the willingness to learn of you... Much appreciation, this one has..."_

The Queen lowered her head dangerously in her direction, the drool falling from the teeth that were eager to sink into D'Vorah's flesh. " _...I am no fool Hive Mother... Do you not think I do not feel what your children are doing to mine!..."_

D'Vorah took a half step back. How was the Queen so perceptive? Then it hit her... they shared a telepathic and communal bond with each other just like D'Vorah did with her own children but severely more advanced. D'vorah should have seen this and for the first time she felt a twinge of fear enter her after she realized her mistake— her overconfidence.

The Xenomorph Queen hissed at her once again, her head tilting to the side in a vain show of dominance. _"... I_ _ **feel**_ _all... I_ _ **know**_ _all... I will devour_ _ **you**_ _..."_

D'Vorah narrowed her eyes defensively at the Queen; there was no longer any reason to play along.

 _"...This one will take your hive and your powers!... First I will start with your children..."_

D'Vorah turned to hear a horrible screeching and saw two of the drones advancing on her, the infected Xenomorph seemed to be able to regain control over himself. He heaved and vomited. A mixture of acidic blood, the gnats and flesh burned in the floor and after it was done it flashed D'Vorah with an aggravated snarl that caused her confidence die. The only card she had to was gone.

D'Vorah turned back and heard the evil and ominous voice of the Matriarch laughing telepathically at her arrogance and stupidity. Another Xenomorph approached from the shadows, this one larger and perspired heavier. He stalked and placed himself protectively in front of the Queen before it hissed at her savagely.

 _"...I will feast on flesh!..._ _ **Your**_ _flesh, Hive Mother..."_

D'Vorah heard the drones approach and snap their jaws in anticipation before they stood on their hind legs and walked towards her.

 _"...Rip!...Feast!..."_

 _"...Tear!... Kill!..."_

D'Vorah turned with her back on the two that blocked her escape and unleashed her spider legs on them and felt the tips pierce their bodies. They shrieked as the ends stabbed them, flailing as D'Vorah continued to relentlessly maim them.

D'Vorah cried out in pain as the acidic blood ate her legs. With a pained grunt, she detracted her legs and let her wings come out. However, before she could take flight, the bulkier of the three, the one guarding it's mother, latched on to her and sank it's teeth into her shoulder while it's tail wrapped around her body. She screamed in pain as the spear end stabbed her in the shoulder and secured her.

Like an electric eel the Xenomorph used it's new capabilities bestowed upon it from its host to send electricity through her, trying to stun its prey. D'Vorah cried out in agony as it fried her, inside and out. It did not last long, but it was enough to cause her to collapse to the floor as it released her, groaning as it pulled the spear out. She writhed pitifully on the floor, the volts sending spasms through her as she tried to crawl away with little luck. The Xenomorph grabbed her by the ankle with its mouth and dragged her to the Queen like a dog with a chew toy.

The Xenomorph let go, and she could hear the hissing from the Queen before it impaled D'Vorah on its own speared tail. D'Vorah gasped in pain then screamed as the spear stabbed her in the back and then flipped her over, so her stomach was to the air. Gravity did most of the work and D'Vorah looked down to see the spear coming out of her belly. A haggard breath of pain was all she could muster as she felt herself being lifted and brought closer to the Queen's waiting claws and teeth.

The last thing D'Vorah saw was the Queen's mouth opening and the second set of teeth shoot out and broke her skull open.

Then nothing.

* * *

 _Present..._

"You sure you don't want to take care of that?" Takeda asked, pointing to the burn marks on Ermac's shoulder. The collection of souls looked at Takeda then to the acid burns on his body with indifference.

"It is nothing," Ermac commented passively.

"Alright..." Takeda said with a shrug. To be honest he was more concerned with finding Jacqui than asking Ermac how he was doing but it was the only way to distract himself from wondering if she was ok. It was still night and the more and more it dragged the more concern ate at him.

"What do you think those things are?" Takeda asked Ermac.

Ermac glanced back at him with a blank expression before his eyes narrowed slightly as if he was trying to find the answer himself.

"We do not know," Ermac's multiple layered voiced answered.

Takeda let out a small laugh. "Thousands of souls in there and not one of them has an idea?"

Ermac raised an eyebrow at him, the look on the mummified face unsure if he was supposed to be offended by the comment. "No. We have not," was Ermac's reply.

Takeda shrugged, accepting the answer, and sighed lightly. "First time for everything I guess."

Ermac did not comment any further and instead panned his head around the jungle as he walked ahead. Takeda pulled the end of the whip, enough to expose the tip and frowned at the acid burns that left the ends mangled. He supposed he could still use it but he prefer it not to be melted. He sighed, his worry for Jacqui sneaking back up on him. He decided to finally give in and radio her.

 **/Jacqui are you alright? Where are you?/**

Commotion through the trees caused them to turn sharply on their heels to face it. Ermac's hands glowed and Takeda was already in a stance. He placed two fingers to his head and listened.

An avalanche of relief fell on him as he heard Jacqui's voice in the brush before she came stomping through it. Ermac lowered his hands, and Takeda grinned at her which she returned as she walked to him.

"Right here," she said, answering him back with a smirk.

Takeda, although ecstatic to see Jacqui safe, frowned when he saw Jacqui's purple and green bruised jaw. He ran to her and hugged her tightly which she returned warmly.

"Thank God, I was worried," he said into her ear. She ran a hand into the back of his hair to comfort him and felt him relax into the touch.

"I'm good, Takeda. I told you I was a big girl remember?" Jacqui said. Takeda laughed as he let go of her. Jacqui's smile faded when his face slowly fell, and he gave her a look that made her pause. Takeda sighed and looked at her with an uncertain look. He could sense something was eating at her, and he also had a mutual feeling.

"I have to ask you something Jacqui because I can't understand it no matter how much I think about it," Takeda began solemnly.

"Ok..." Jacqui said, uneasy to what he was thinking.

"Why didn't it kill you if was able to kill Ferra and Torr as quickly as you said it did," Takeda asked, having a hard time restraining himself to read her mind for the answer.

Jacqui felt her stomach sink at the question. She did not actually know why it didn't kill her but had a suspicion to what it was; she thought it was because she was a woman but then reconsidered when she remembered Ferra. She was just a little disappointed that he had to find out this way...

Jacqui saw something out of her peripheral as did Takeda and they noticed that Ermac had floated closer by to them, the mystic wondering if their news pertained to anything to their objective to destroy the nest. Takeda cleared his throat at him; silently asking him to give them some space. Ermac looked back and forth between them and without a word respected their distance and floated away.

"There's something I've been meaning to tell you— and don't get mad because I just found out before we came here," Jacqui said, her voice grave and timorous.

Takeda nodded slightly. "What is it? You can tell me."

Jacqui exhaled and closed her eyes, she sighed as shaky as her nerves. "I think... I'm... pregnant."

After a few seconds of silence, Jacqui opened an eye to see Takeda staring at her with a mixture of stun and anxiety on his face. She opened both eyes and looked at him with a bit of disappointment, patiently waiting for him to say something. Instead, he just stared at her with the same dumb look on his face as if he had accidently stumbled upon something he didn't want to. His eyes continuously flickered from her face to her stomach before he caught her stern expression.

"Are you gonna say anything?" Jacqui questioned a little angrily.

Takeda blinked his eyes for a moment and then seemed to remember where he was. He smiled sheepishly at her but with an understanding smile; letting Jacqui know he was happy about it. She gave him an awkward smile before she laughed loudly at what he said in response to her news.

"Your Dad is gonna kill me. Literally. He's gonna kill me."

* * *

By the time the next day approached and with little luck finding the nest, Cassie decided to go with a different strategy. Leading with Kotal Kahn and the other Osh-Tekk warrior behind her, she tapped the microphone of her Bluetooth device as they walked along the ravine.

 **/This is Cassie. Anyone copy?/**

 **/I copy./**

 **/Briggs here. I copy/**

 **/Takeda here. I copy./**

Cassie let out a sigh of relief. **/Alright guys new plan. What's everyone's location?/**

 **/I'm with Takeda and Ermac./** Jacqui replied **. /We're walking alongside the river./**

 **/We're by the river too./** Jin said with an exasperated sigh. There was a pause before Jin angrily added **/Oh by the way we ran into the brick-shit house you told us about. Thanks for the heads up that he had a cannon!/**

 **/Take a chill pill, Jin, kinda slipped my mind when it was giving me a beat down./** Jacqui snapped back with an unapologetic tone.

 **/I lost my staff** _ **and**_ **broke my arm!/**

 **/Guys quit it./** Takeda said calmly over the radio **. /Cassie what are you thinking?/**

 **/We need to regroup. Kotal Kahn and I are near the ravine as well. Let's find each other and then we'll find that nest./**

 **/Why couldn't we do this in the beginning?/** Jin mumbled angrily.

Cassie frowned in annoyance. **/Because we didn't know they would start kidnapping** **us!/** Realization suddenly hit Cassie like a softball to the head. She noticed that Kotal Kahn and the other Osh-Tekk warrior were looking in her direction, and the final jigsaw piece fit together when she remembered the battle that had taken place with the Xenomorphs.

 **/I don't think they kill you.../** Cassie said over the comm. link.

 **/What?/** Jin questioned with a confused tone.

 **/What makes you say that?/** Jacqui asked.

 **/We got attacked, and they grabbed a couple of the Kahn's guys. They could of killed us easily, but they didn't. I think they grab you and take you for the crab-things at the nest./**

 **/So they're scavenging us./** Takeda clarified. **/Then they impregnate you.../**

 **/Ya... that's gotta be what they're doing. Then the crab-things do what they do, and another albino creepy comes out of you./**

 **/Oh that's just fantastic./** Jin groaned. **/I hate this place./**

 **/Let's group up. We all need to find this nest together before there isn't anymore of us to take./** Cassie concluded before she cut the comm. link.

* * *

Back on Earthrealm, Johnny Cage was spinning the round communications device on the table while waiting patiently for Cassie to answer it in the Operations Tent. He had his chin in his hand that was braced on the table while the other one flicked it in a circle like a dreidel. He sighed and felt his sunglasses fall from the bridge of his nose to the end, his eyes poking over the dark lenses tiredly.

Cassie was usually pretty accountable for answering his calls, and it was past her scheduled time to check in and report her progress. He knew that she could be as forgetful as he was— especially when she became as focused in her work like Sonya. Plus he knew that Outworld was not known for its cell-phone coverage, but in the back of his mind a tiny little voice told him to worry.

"Don't ponder too much on it, my friend," the voice of a familiar telepath said behind him, causing Johnny to jump.

"Jesus, we need to put a bell on you. You're too sneaky— especially for a blind ninja," Johnny said as he pulled his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers.

The corner of Kenshi's mouth tugged slightly in a smile. "I have confidence they will be able to handle the situation with ease."

"You're not worried about Takeda in the slightest?" Johnny asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course I worry about Takeda," Kenshi answered before he nodded slightly with a reassuring smile, "But I know he is capable as well as Cassie and the others are. Have faith in your team."

"I'm her dad, and she hasn't answered my calls," Johnny pointed out with a frown.

"And you answer every call when you are busy?" Kenshi asked him with an eyebrow raised rhetorically at him.

"Well.. no, but..."

"Then do not worry," Kenshi interrupted, his head nodding in Johnny's direction as if trying to highlight his point. Johnny sighed and reluctantly let Kenshi's words sink in as he tried hard to silence the doubt in the back of his head.

"Alright fine. You win Confucius," Johnny grumbled. He decided to try and change the subject but before he could ask Kenshi had already read his mind.

"They are on their way. Hanzo is most eager to see his apprentice and how he is fairing with the Special Forces unit," Kenshi informed him.

"And Coldy-locks?"

"Curious to hear the training exercise you have in mind for your team," Kenshi replied.

"Ya, hopefully they don't start burning and freezing up the place when they get here," Johnny said, "If they do make sure they fight near Sonya's side of the barracks and away from mine."

"They have reconciled although they are still hesitant of each other. I'm sure they will be able to restrain themselves for a day," Kenshi answered with a grin.

"And Leonardo DiCaprio wins Oscars..." Johnny said with a smirk, turning back to the communicator once more and trying his daughter again.

* * *

After informing Black about what the next course would be, Jin let Erron lead ahead to the rendezvous point in the ravine they would meet up. Eventually, the river bank became too narrow for them, so they decided to continue their trek through the trees. The trees were thick, and the vines hung like hammocks all around them trying to snag them. Kung Jin looked into the trees, a thought crawling its way back into his mind as he glanced at his arm grimly, now hanging in a dirty, brown sling against his chest courtesy of a piece of Black's poncho.

"What were those things?" Kung Jin asked, "I've never seen them in the Shaolin Archives. You have any idea?"

Black shook his head, keeping his eyes forward. "Whatever they are, they're gonna be dead soon. Best not to think too hard about it."

"You're not at all curious?" Kung Jin questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"I was until they tried to kill me. Now I just want to return the favor," Erron answered nonchalantly. Kung Jin rolled his eyes.

They walked in silence, the trees getting thicker and providing more and more coverage from the sun that beat on them relentlessly. The humidity was thick enough to choke on and Jin could hear his stomach growling. He closed his eyes and day-dreamed about sinking his teeth into something terrible and greasy when he got back to Earthrealm. He opened his eyes and blew a raspberry quietly. Who knew how long that would be if they didn't find the nest.

Kung Jin's eyes widened in alarm when he saw the three familiar dots dance across the back of Erron's poncho. He immediately sailed into Black's back and sent them both to the ground. Black grunted, and Kung Jin hissed in pain as they landed on the ground.

"What are you—"

He didn't get the chance to finish his sentence when the ground exploded inches from his face and they both rolled over on their backs in unison to see the familiar humanoid stalking them in the trees, balancing on a tree branch above. He aimed the lasers once more, and they rolled away from each other as the blast blew dirt where they once lay.

Jin reached for his chakram and threw it as best as he could with his non-dominant hand, but grunted in pain as his arm flared. The Predator turned to see the disc embedded in the tree and turned back to Jin with an almost annoyed look. Jin felt his face drop deeply as the Predator ripped the chakram out of the tree and placed it in his own utility belt.

"Oh you gigantic asshole..." Jin breathed angrily under his breath. The Predator clicked at them and aimed the lasers at him again. Jin tucked and rolled out of the way as the tree behind him erupted in flames.

Jin looked at Erron who was reaching for his guns, Erron noticed he was staring at him and raised an eyebrow at him in confusion.

"Here's your chance to return the favor!" Jin yelled to Black before he did the only thing he could think of.

Kung Jin, injured and without his staff or chakram opted for running away to where they were supposed to rendezvous. Black glared in disbelief and rage that Kung Jin suddenly abandoned him.

"You cowardly son-of-a-bitch..." Black grumbled with ire as he watched Kung Jin sprint like a deer through the jungle, his one good arm swinging wildly.

Black heard a thud hit the jungle floor and turned to it. He aimed his revolvers in its direction and unloaded his bullets into its unprotected stomach. Green, fluorescent blood exploded from the holes that he shot into its body, and the Predator stumbled back in pain, his clawed hands covering his body instinctively. He aimed a couple of bullets at the face mask but almost all of the rounds ricocheted off, and he decided it was not a good target to waste bullets on.

His revolvers clicked, and he backed up, trying to reload them as the Predator regained his strength. The Predator roared at him like an angry bull, and it was his turn get fired at. The laser dots came for him and without his weapons loaded, it was Black's turn to run. He reloaded them as he ran, hearing the thunderous footsteps behind him pursuing him.

"Shit," he cursed as he heard the cannon fire behind him. He ducked and rolled forward, the tree in front of him incinerated into splinters. He looked back to see the injured beast still coming for him, five holes in his torso and two in his legs; the rest of Black's bullets must have bounced off his chest plate. The wounds bled angrily, but it didn't seem to slow it down at all. Erron Black got back up and could see the laser dots glide over the trees as he zigzagged his way through them, trying to avoid the dots landing on him.

Finally reloaded he flicked the cylinders back into place and unloaded another round at the masked humanoid. The trees provided enough cover, and the Predator hid behind them as Black fired at him.

He stopped firing when he realized that he couldn't get a clear shot and decided to walk backwards and reload his gun. He saw something silver launch his way at him, and he barely rolled out of the way when he felt the top of his shoulder tear open and a cry of pain escape him. He heard something hit the tree behind him and looked to see an intricate but deadly spear stuck in the tree, the same one that had cut his arm open.

He looked up to see the Predator gaining on him but hesitated slightly and placed his hand on his torso, the bullets finally affecting him. The Predator took shelter behind a tree as Black shot at him again. He saw it start to retreat and decided to try and catch up with Kung Jin.

* * *

Ermac, Takeda, and Jacqui were the first to meet up to Cassie and Kotal Kahn and what they found surprised them when they got to the small river.

Cassie looked at the pink form of Mileena's decomposing corpse with a grimace and turned to Kotal Kahn with a shrug of her shoulders. "Well... least you won't have to worry about the rebellion anymore."

Kotal Kahn looked at her with a raised eyebrow, his expression dull and said nothing in response to her joke, leaving Cassie feeling as if she should have kept her mouth shut.

"Look's like Tanya's here as well," Takeda said, looking at the Edenian's corpse that was under the water that was currently being picked at by fish and other aquatic scavengers.

"Ya... but who killed them?" Jacqui said, looking around the jungle hesitantly.

"Brick-shithouse maybe? The creepy things would have taken them," Cassie said, looking over at her friend. Jacqui seemed to accept that as a possibility.

"He certainly did a good job..." Takeda murmured under his breath, his eyes flickering around warily.

Kotal Kahn crossed his arms over his chest and walked away, turning his back on the group to gather his thoughts on the events unfolding. He was not pleased with the creature whatever it was and started to feel little hope for Reptile. It had been days, and he had not returned and Kotal Kahn knew better; he knew his friend must have befallen a similar fate. He doubted the black serpents took him mainly because the Zaterran had been most eager to track down this beast. He must have confronted it and died in the process. He exhaled, his head dipping a forward a bit as he mourned his most trusted spy.

Kotal Kahn turned to see the brush move wildly and one of the other Earthrealmers spring through the trees out of breath, his arm clung tightly in a sling and sweat dripping over his face and clothes. The Emperor looked for Erron Black and felt a sense of relief enter him when his mercenary bodyguard also stumbled through the trees, a look of pure resentment burning in his eyes as he walked to Kung Jin.

Erron Black spun Kung Jin around and punched him in the jaw. Jin fell on his rear and into the water as he rubbed his jaw, giving Erron the hardest glare he could muster. "What the hell was that for?"

"For running," The gunslinger drawled with a scowl.

Jin rolled his eyes and retorted angrily, "What was I supposed to do? Throw a rock at it?"

Black grumbled inaudibly under his breath and instead turned his attention to the Emperor and walked over to debrief him on their progress. Takeda and the others walked over and offered Jin a hand that he took with his uninjured one.

"Looks like you two are the best of friends," Takeda jested sarcastically with a smile. Kung Jin scowled in response and looked at his arm.

Cassie nodded towards Jin's arm. "You ok?"

Jin looked at his arm and gave the Sergeant a scowl that wasn't necessarily for her and more for the broken forearm. "I'll live. What's our play?"

"Still the same: find the nest and take it out," Cassie informed him, crossing her arms across her chest.

Jin scoffed a little. "How are we gonna do that by the way? Don't exactly have any flamethrowers or bug spray."

Cassie smiled lightly and leaned her head in the direction of the Emperor, who was talking with Black. "No, but we got the power of the sun on the side."

The corner of Jin's mouth picked up in an understanding smirk, the cogs in his head working out the plan. "Up the stair path to the fire's edge, huh? Not bad. One problem, though. What if the sun isn't in the sky? He can't do that light show at night and can he take out the whole nest?"

"He said he would try. Which is why we make sure Kotal Kahn reaches that nest before the sun goes down," Jacqui quipped. "Or we'll camp out till the next day if we find the nest at night."

"I'll bring the marshmallows," Takeda smirked.

"I got dibbs on the Hershey bars," Cassie laughed.

Jin rolled his eyes but couldn't stop the humored smile on his face, until it dropped when he felt his arm twinge slightly. "Hopefully... that brick-shit house doesn't find us before then. He didn't look like the one to sing Kumbaya."

Opposite the river, Black and the Kahn had their own discussion.

"I am pleased to see you were able to rejoin us," Kotal Kahn began, "What news do you bring?"

"We ran into those things. We were able to take them out, but we got ambushed by what Briggs was describing," Erron informed him. Black motioned his head towards the jungle, "I was able to put some lead into him before he backed off."

"Hmm," Kotal Kahn grumbled, his eyes looking towards the tree line. Ermac had also joined them at this time, and Black noticed the acid burns on his skin.

"Looks like you two ran into them as well," Erron commented.

"We have destroyed them," Ermac clarified.

"So... can't be too many left, right?" Erron stated. "Should be no problem to take the rest of them—"

An enormous roar of echoed through the jungle and caused the Earthrealmers and the Outworlder's head to snap in the direction of the trees. Cassie noticed a flock of birds taking off, startled from where they were perched and felt a gloomy expression engulf her face when she saw how close it was.

Another roar shook the jungle, and they all looked uneasy at each other.

"Let us proceed to the nest. I long to rid Outworld's jungle of this plague," Kotal Kahn addressed. Cassie didn't have any objections and signaled her team as well.

* * *

The Predator howled in pain as he cauterized the bullet wounds with a neon blue, rocky substance made from his own medical kit. His mandibles flexed in pain as he set the medical trowel down and reached for the set of optical pliers he had placed off to the side. Sitting with his back to a tree he reached in and fished out another bullet, this one on his leg and growled in pain as the metallic ends swept through the mangled flesh and pried the bullets that were shallowly embedded in him. Grunting in pain he pulled out the last one and picked up the trowel again. Hesitantly, he placed the burning substance to his leg and felt the horrendous sizzle that burnt his skin and sent throbbing waves of pain. He roared again before he finished up his work, extinguished the cauterizing agent and straightened up. He was in pain, but he was ready to get back to work.

He had been chasing the large warrior Xenomorph when he had run into the humans again, having lost the Xenomorph and seeing that one of them was armed he had tried to neutralize them but had underestimated the human's accuracy and readiness to engage him.

He would make sure the human's death was as painful as the Predator's wounds, and he clicked in prospect at it.

He marched in the direction they had fled in and heard clambering around the trees. He zoomed on to the trees and saw two Hive Drones jumping quickly from tree to tree and in the direction the humans had fled to.

* * *

The group didn't make it too far into the jungle when they heard the commotion in the trees. They stood ready, all of them waiting for them to attack and heard the hissing before they fell from the trees.

Cassie aimed her guns it at the Xenomorphs that were making their way towards them, Jacqui on her left, Takeda on the right and Jin taking up the rear. Next to their circle, the Outworlders formed their own as the other approached them: Kotal Kahn had his tecpatl dagger ready, Erron Black with his revolvers, Ermac's hands glowing bright and the Osh-Tekk who held his spear at the ready.

The Xenomorphs started to circle them like sharks, walking among the trees and at an appropriate distance so none of them could engage them with a clear shot. They all waited, none of them making the first move.

"What are they waiting for?" Takeda questioned as he watched them uneasily. "They had no problem attacking us before."

"Probably looking for chinks in the chain," Jin answered, his eyes following them as they moved and snarled. Without a weapon, he couldn't stop thinking he might be referring to himself.

"These things are really scary looking," Jacqui commented with a wary jest as she saw the Xenomorphs for the first time.

"Keep steady guys..." Cassie whispered to them.

The Warrior Drone watched from the tree afar, stalking behind and watching as his two siblings as they distracted the group of prey below. He gazed upon them and looked for the one that would be the biggest threat. He locked on to the one who levitated with ease and made his way silently to where he could reach it. He smelled much like a corpse and knew the Matriarch would have no objections if he killed it. Besides, there was plenty to go around...

The Xenomorph hissed, water droplets pouring over his body and leaped from tree and latched on to the prey while it was distracted.

The thousands of souls within Ermac's vessel screamed as they were stabbed from behind, a spear-like tail entered out of his torso, and he felt a set of teeth sink into its shoulder. Ermac hit the ground with a thud with the Xenomorph glued to him as volts paralyzed him. He fought hard for concentration, but the thousands of souls screamed simultaneously as the Xenomorph shocked him without mercy.

While everyone turned to see Ermac having a hard time neutralizing the Warrior Drone the other two xenomorphs came for them.

Takeda lashed out with his whip and ensnared one of them. It's struggled as the whip pinned it's arms to it's side while Cassie and Jacqui fired upon it; it shrieked as the bullets hit him. Jin watched as one of the Xenomorphs advanced on the Osh-Tekk warrior before it grabbed him and took him up the tree, the Emperor struggling to hold onto his legs as it pulled the bulky form of the Kahn with them before Kotal lost his grip.

Gunshots did little to aid Ermac and instead made it worse. Black cursed as the acid burned Ermac over his torso, and he let out a scream. The Warrior Drone shot Black a scathing look as it released its teeth from it's shoulder. It hissed at Erron before it he ceased, a strange inquisitive look seemed to cross it's malicious disposition.

With Ermac still speared the Xenomorph took the opportunity to heave painfully and Black stared at it in repulsion as it vomited heavily on Ermac, coating him in a disgusting combination of yellow acidic blood and digested flesh.

When Black heard the sizzling and the agonizing screams of a thousand laced souls, Black knew why it had done it. Like a cobra spits venom at its prey, it regurgitated blood on Ermac and let the acid melt away the vessel. With Ermac's already decomposing corpse melted all it had to do was lift the tail up, it's tail lifting through Ermac's head like it was nothing with a sickening wet sound. Melted flesh and bone hung from it's tail like sap dripping off a tree and it slapped it's tail sharply through the air to remove the remains off before the Warrior Drone advanced on Black again.

Green orbs danced wildly around and clouded Erron's vision as he tried to aim through the fog of souls that were released without a body to contain them. Erron retreated slowly, walking backward as the Warrior Drone came for him, the revolver's firing loudly and the bullets landed in the oblong and ridged head of the Warrior Drone.

It shrieked in pain as bullets blasted holes in its skull, and he had to fall back from the onslaught, it scrambled up the tree, and Black cursed as he lost it in the dense branches. The Xenomorph staggered away; it's strength and stamina depleted from exterminating the levitated corpse. The wounds ached, and it remained in the trees until it could find a better way to snatch on to prey.

Takeda held on but frowned when he heard Jacqui and Cassie's guns click.

"I'm out," Cassie called out.

"Same here," Jacqui said.

The whip bounced wildly as he struggled to hold the alien still. The injured Xenomorph tried to rid the whip from him and swung it's speared tail at Takeda's head. Takeda ducked and rolled as the tail missed his neck by inches. He felt the whip go slack and watched as the Xenomorph charged him on all fours like a freight train, his acid blood from the bullet wounds helping rid the whip from its body.

It shrieked and went silent as a spear went through one side of his head and exited out the other end, Kotal Kahn standing off to the side and nodded in approval as he saw Osh-Tekk warrior's discarded spear had hit its target. Takeda exhaled a sigh of relief and retracted the whip back in the gantlet near his wrists.

Cassie and Jin went to join Takeda and Kotal Kahn's side as Erron Black caught up to the rest of the group. Jacqui was looking down at her arm gantlets; it didn't look like they were empty, just jammed.

"One down... two to go," Jin said, looking around the trees for any more.

"We don't know that," Erron Black commented grimly. "There could be more."

"I wonder—"

A scream was all it took to interrupt Takeda while it ripped his heart out in unison. They turned to see in time as Jacqui being pulled away by the boney charcoal tail of the Warrior Drone; she aimed her gantlets at the dorsal spines, but nothing happened. She cursed and struggled to rid the tail of her with little progress and shuttered in pain as the Xenomorph snapped her with enough electricity to stun her for a moment. The Warrior Drone carried her up a tree, and Takeda felt the most insurmountable horror course run through him.

"NO!"

Takeda ran and managed to grab her ankles before they were out of reach, the Warrior Drone hissed when it felt something pull back. Takeda also felt himself being lifted but was halted when Cassie, Jin, Kotal Kahn and Erron also joined, all of them pulling back as the Warrior Drone pulled the other direction, trying to climb up the tree but felt itself slipping.

"Let go of her you fugly son-of-a-bitch!" Cassie screamed angrily at the Xenomorph as she held on to Takeda's other leg. Erron Black, Jin and Kotal Kahn grunted as they held onto Takeda's leg. Takeda felt as if he was strapped to a medieval stretcher and grimaced in pain but held on, determined to hold on to Jacqui at all costs. They would not take her from him!

Even with all five of them pulling the Warrior Drone gave no reconsideration of letting the prey go. It snarled and felt its bony hands start to slid over the wood, leaving claw marks as they slowly dragged it back to the ground. They grunted and pulled eagerly, winning the tug-of-war, and determined not lose another member of their company to the Xenomorphs.

Takeda looked up in time to see the Xenomorph turn sharply and scurry down the tree, causing Jacqui to fall and Takeda to land on his face on the ground. The others lost their balance and almost fell on top of each other from the unexpected and rapid slack. Takeda looked up in time to see Jacqui being pulled back up the tree, a look of delirious panic on her face.

Takeda sprang to his feet, prepared to latch on to Jacqui once more but the Warrior Drone anticipated this. Takeda cried out in surprise as the Warrior Drone slashed him across the face with it's claws, cutting his right eye and spilling blood. Takeda cried out in pain and lost his grip on Jacqui as the force of the hit whipped his head to the side and sent him to the ground.

His eye screamed in pain, and he clutched instinctively to stop the bleeding that poured heavily out of his eye socket. His eye felt as mangled as hamburger meat, and the pain made his other eye tear up, but it was a pittance compared to the heaviness he felt. To be honest he didn't care about losing the eye or both eyes, they were nothing compared uncontrollable guilt and anguish when he realized that he was responsible for Jacqui's death. He had let her go. He had let her be taken to the lion's nest.

The heard rustling in the trees and Cassie's eyes shot in the direction of the noise. She looked at the others before she sprang to her feet, not really caring if anyone was following her.

"We can still catch up to them— move!" Cassie yelled, taking off in the direction Jacqui was taken. Takeda had never seen the Sergeant run this fast in training and despite his eye burned and protested in agony, he ran after her, hot on her trail.

Takeda placed the Shirai Ryu bandana he wore over his damaged eye as a make-shift bandage and tightened it. He felt his eye brim with tears from the wind and pain and could also feel the bandana getting wet, but he didn't care. There was a chance of hope that they could reach her before it was too late; it was a small the promise of utopia and it was all he needed to ignore the pain and press on with a surge of adrenaline fueled determination.

He would make sure they would not finish the job— they would not have her. He heard Jin and the Outworlders on his trail, and he looked back to see them trying to catch up to them as well. He didn't care that they were just after the nest, Cassie himself and Jin were probably the only ones that really wanted to get her back, but it was nice to know they would have a couple others to help when they ventured into Lucifer's crypt and battled the demons within.

Unbeknownst, behind them, another was also keeping up as well.

Following them all to the nest...

* * *

 **A/N:** _*le gasp from author* Jacqui's been taken, D'Vorah and Ermac are dead_ — sorry Ermac— and _The Predator is on the prowl..._  
 _*Johnny Cage shadow-kicks down the door and interrupts* And prom's tomorrow!_

 _To be honest, this chapter's main purpose was to be a filler until the next two chapters (three but the last one is an epilogue) I got planned for you all. I hoped you all enjoyed it and what I have planned for the finale._

 _Let me know what you thought with a review. Many thanks for all those reading, the favs and alerts and all those who reviewed and I'll see you next chapter._


	7. BOSS FIGHT

**Chapter 7: BOSS FIGHT**

* * *

After running for what seemed like an eternity, Takeda and Cassie looked at each with the utmost despair when they couldn't hear the Warrior Drone in the trees any longer.

Takeda placed his hands on his knees and breathed heavily, exhausted from chasing the Warrior Drone with nothing but sounds to guide them. He felt Cassie put a hand on his back as Kotal, Jin and Erron caught up to them, all of them fatigued as well.

"C'mon... we gotta keep going," Cassie said, encouraging him through labored breaths. Takeda nodded and stood back up, his face glistening with sweat as much as hers was.

Kotal looked in the direction of the sky and noticed the orange increasing in darkness as the sun rapidly made it's descent towards the horizon, signaling to him that there was no much time left if they wanted to destroy the nest.

"Where do we go from here?" Jin questioned.

"I think it went this way," Erron said, pointing to the left of them.

"No, they went— "

They all heard the sound of something sharp whizzing in the air and turned to see a metallic disc sail towards them.

Erron and Kotal ducked out of the way, but Jin was not so lucky; he flew backward as a horrendous sting buried itself into his broken forearm and landed with a large back-breaking thud on the jungle floor. He screamed in pain, his eyes winced shut, with the chakram buried deep in his broken arm— the only thing that had stopped the chakram from killing him instantly.

"JIN!" Cassie screamed, running over to help him and winced as she saw the chakram buried so deep it nearly cut his entire forearm in half and stopped inside Jin's chest cavity. Cassie knew better, but she would not leave him like this. Takeda came to her side as well, a look of dolefulness on his face as well when he saw how severely Jin was injured.

Cassie and the others looked up to see a massive figure looming towards them with fresh cauterized bullet holes that decorated its body like a target paper. Cassie faltered when she saw the Predator for the first time, he was massive and clearly on a mission as he came for them. Her hesitance only lasted seconds before she glared dangerously at him, her face twisted in hatred.

"You motherfucker..." she spat venomously in a whisper.

Erron grabbed his revolvers out of his holsters and turned to the rest of the group. "Go— I'll hold him off!" Black hollered to them.

Kotal Kahn looked at the creature with enmity before he nodded in acknowledgment to Black, which the gunslinger returned. Cassie and Takeda went to lift Jin, but he ended up screaming in pain. Jin shook his head in agony, telling them to stop.

"No— get the nest. Kill those things..." Jin said, grunting in pain.

"No, we'll carry you. You're going to be fine— "

"Cassie..." Jin looked at her, a final smirk tugging its way to his face, but his eyes betraying his disposition with the heavy hopelessness he felt, "take care of my cat?"

"Jin..."

She felt Takeda and Kotal Kahn lift her away, and she fought them for a second before she realized that they had to leave. Cassie flashed Jin a heartbreaking look but let the Emperor and Takeda drag her away. She lost another teammate, and it ate at her the farther their forms disappeared through the trees.

The Predator's cannon charged back to life and aimed it at Jin whose head exploded like a cantaloupe; he was unimportant to the Predator, he wasn't the one he wanted to cause excruciating pain to.

Erron Black gave the Predator a dissatisfied look when he saw how unceremoniously it killed Jin as if he wasn't worth its time

"If you wanted my attention— you got it," Erron Black growled as he flipped his guns expertly in his hands.

Black frowned when he heard the recording of Jin's whistling come from the face mask, purposely taunting him. Black glared at the gesture and aimed his guns at him.

"Ready for a rematch?"

The Predator fired his cannon at Black who leaned out of the way and fired. Bullets hit him again, and he roared in a mixture of anger and pain. Black kept firing, trying to put as much lead into he could before his revolvers ran out.

It was not long after he heard his guns click and with the Predator distracted he jumped as high as he could and drove his foot into the damaged hide of it's torso while it fumbled back from the onslaught of bullets it received. He stumbled back in pain as he felt Black hit into the wounds he had inflicted.

The Predator snarled and punched Black across the face with a vicious hook, trying to force distance. Erron's hat flew off as his face snapped to the side and sailed him onto his stomach. Black tasted blood in his mouth when he landed on the ground but ignored it. He rolled over to his back and pulled the chamber of one his revolvers out and dumped out the empty cartridges while he reached desperately for bullets on his gun belt.

He managed to get three in the chamber when he noticed it storm towards him. Using his legs, he flipped them over his head until he was on his knees. He fired all three and cursed as he still came for him. Even in pain, the Predator was a force to be reckoned with and like an injured bull vs. a matador it came for Black, determined to inflict as much damage it could.

Erron felt the claw hand grab his wrist before he could stand back up. It snapped his hand at an unnatural angle and Black heard the bones in his wrist and hand break before the gun fell out of his hand.

Using his other hand, Black reached his fingers into the bullet holes of his torso and did as much damage as he could inflict. Green blood coated his fingers as the Predator roared in pain from behind its face mask before he punched him relentlessly in the face a couple of times. Black's head snapped back with each punch, and he felt his nose break before the massive humanoid delivered another solid and bone shattering backhand across his face.

Black groaned out in pain, his head snapping to the side before the Predator kicked him excruciatingly in the stomach with it's booted foot and released his wrist.

Black knew at least a couple of his ribs were broken when his back hit the ground and as he rolled on to his hands and knees he felt another kick lift him up before he fell onto the ground. Black moaned in pain, trying to crawl feebly away when he felt the heavy weight of his foot on his back hold him down. It pressed into his back purposely, and he felt his broken ribs ache and shift in agony.

The Predator's audio scanners picked up on a feminine scream that ripped through the jungle that caused him to hesitate for a moment. The other humans must of found the nest nearby. Perhaps they were there to destroy the nest as well.

He was about to kill Black when a malicious idea crawled its way into its mind. He still wanted the alpha of the group, and he also wanted to inflict as much damage as he could on the gunslinger that riddled him with bullets.

He clicked in satisfaction as he discovered a way he could accomplish both.

Black screamed in agony as he felt his left fibula snap like he was breaking a twig and then repeated the same thing on the other leg. Black clutched the foliage of the jungle floor with his unbroken hand as he moaned in pain.

He felt the Predator grab the back of his poncho and dragged him along like a flour sack, Black grabbed his massive wrist with his good hand while he cursed and grunted as tried to budge it's steal grip from the scruff of his neck, the poncho strangling him as he carried him off.

* * *

The first thing Jacqui felt was the blood that dripped from the cut on her forehead as her back slammed on the slippery wall of the dark cave she was in. Her head hitting a branch on a tree was the last thing she had recalled before she found herself being stared at by the devilish and monstrous form of the matriarch laying eggs in the cave.

Jacqui felt herself shrink under it's daunting and horrifying visage that hissed at her nearby, making her feel as small and insignificant as a vermin caught in a trap. She looked across from her and noticed the Osh-Tekk warrior had already been secured and unconscious with a facehugger wrapped around his face. Cassie had been right about them; they took you for the facehuggers. That would not be her— she would fight no matter what.

She felt claws on her arms and looked to see the Warrior Drone grasp her and tried to push her into the secreted resin that it had prepared for her.

Probably not the best alternative but the only one she had she punched the side of it's oblong head with her free hand, the gauntlets sending waves of pain through it's damaged and wounded skull courtesy of Erron Black's bullets. It hissed and shot its inner mouth at her which she had to lean back at, barely missing her face. It hissed a warning at her, and she saw the other Xenomorph make it's way over to her and clutch at her other arm.

She screamed and kicked, trying to fight them off with little success. All in the cave turned when they heard the worried and masculine voice nearby cry out in the distance somewhere outside the cave. Elation flew through her when she realized just how close they were.

"JACQUI!"

"HERE!" She screamed at the top of her lungs but was instantly silenced by the roar of the Warrior Drone, as if commanding her to keep quiet. She ignored it.

"HERE! I'M HERE!"

This time the Queen silenced her, and Jacqui felt fear at the violent hiss it spat at her. Jacqui watched silently as the Queen suddenly lifted it's massive head and like a dog sensing a smell bounced its head slightly. The Warrior Drone and the other Xenomorph halted their movements as well when the Queen gave them a confusing command they didn't understand until she clarified it to them.

 _"...Bait..."_

Jacqui felt a little uneasy and suspicious when the Warrior Drone and the other one backed off her, stalking backward as if they were waiting for her to get up. She didn't care or wanted to know and instead jumped to her feet as fast as she could and sprinted to the exit. The Queen nodded to the Warrior Drone, and it followed Jacqui to the exit.

Takeda, Kotal Kahn, and Cassie ran to the cave and saw as a bloodied and frightened Jacqui run towards them. She had just reached the exit of the cave when she suddenly screamed and fell to her stomach. She screamed out in frustration when she felt herself being pulled back by her ankles by the tail of the Warrior Drone and disappeared into the darkness of the cave once again.

Without a word they ran in after them, Cassie loading her last magazine into her gun and Takeda with his mangled whips ready.

Kotal Kahn felt a small flicker of hesitation come over him; something about the way that Briggs was pulled back into the cave sent a warning through him. He did his best to ignore it and pressed on, casting a worried glance at the sun that was sinking closer and closer away from them.

Cassie saw Jacqui's body being dragged across the dark floor of the cave, her hands reaching for them and anything she could grab on to. Takeda's whip flew out of his gantlets on his wrists; the small blades extended and latched on to the head of the Warrior Drone, a determined and furious expression on Takeda's face.

The Warrior Drone hissed and wailed in pain as the blades cut into it's already damaged head. The Xenomorph zapped electricity through the whip and Takeda received it on the opposite end. He screamed in pain, volts firing all over his body as he jerked wildly.

Jacqui's face fell in horror as she watched Takeda vibrate violently, smoke rising off him as he was electrocuted. Jacqui worked on her gantlets with haste, trying to remove the jam from before and smiled when she succeeded. She aimed them at the dying Warrior Drone with a dark smile.

Shotgun rounds ripped through the head of the Warrior Drone and spilled chunks of flesh and brain matter in the cave, melting stone the instant it oxidized. The body of the Warrior Drone hit the ground with a thud as a small chunk of flesh hit Jacqui's bulletproof vest and she panicked, her fingers grasping frantically at the clasps to pull it off before it went through to the weak fabric of her Special Forces clothing underneath.

She threw the melted vest from her, a horrible stinging like a sunburn engulfing her chest. Takeda flicked the switch by his thumb and the blades retracted, a terrible groan of pain escaping him as he fell forward but caught by Jacqui, who was the only thing holding him up as he recovered.

"I got ya..." she told him, earning a small smile from him before they heard the screeching behind them.

The other Xenomorph attacked, latching onto Kotal Kahn from behind and he groaned under the weight as they slammed into the ground with the Xenomorph on top. The Kahn rolled it over managed to pin the Xenomorph on to it's back as he tried to avoid it's inner mouth that shot out at him, the Emperor struggling to hold on to serpent that flailed underneath.

Claws dragged their way down Kotal's arms, and he howled in pain as they left three jagged marks over both arms all the way from the top of his shoulder to the point of his elbows. Cassie came to Kahn's side and placed her boot against the slick surface of the Xenomorph's head and forced it's head to the side while she shot point-blank into its skull. Kotal Kahn let go of the Xenomorph in time, but Cassie was not as lucky to avoid the acidic blood that splattered on her boot.

She cried out in pain as she reached down, trying to undo the laces and yank her boot off as the acid ate through the heavy leather boots as if they were made out of cheesecloth. Cassie howled in pain, her skin burning before Kotal Kahn assisted her and managed to tear the boot off by sliding his tecpatl dagger through the laces and freed her. She hopped on one leg, moaning in pain as her foot and calf burned painfully, and the Emperor draped an arm around her waist to assist her.

They both caught up to Takeda and Jacqui and noticed they had their eyes fixed in horror at the very enraged Xenomorph Queen that hissed and snarled at them from her ovipositor.

Kotal Kahn and Cassie's face dropped at the sight of the macabre and petrifying sight of the Xenomorph Queen, who glowered down at them all from her throne with a malicious and almost gratifying tilt of her head.

Yes, she had lost two of her children, but soon their numbers would be refurbished with the hosts that unknowingly stumbled into the trap she had set for them. An ominous feeling enveloped them all as they watched the eggs hatch—one for each of them.

Kotal glared at the heinous being before him with a lift of his head before he passed Cassie over to Takeda and Jacqui, who held each of her arms and draped them over their shoulders.

Kotal Kahn presented himself to the Queen, the tattoos glowing brightly as the beams of sun from the cave opening engulfed him in a fiery spotlight. The Queen tilted her head in confusion at him; she could feel the heat permeating from his body from where she sat as he engulfed enough energy for what was to come next.

Flames ejected from his hands and set fire to the eggs that hatched. The Queen's reaction was as instantaneous as it was expected as she shrieked and waved her clawed hands in anger; her shrieking echoing off the cave and piercing their ears uncomfortably.

Kotal stopped his assault; the eggs engulfed in flames and gave the Queen a knowing and stern stare that she understood the meaning. Enraged and defeated she hissed lowly at them all, unwilling to sacrifice any more eggs. With her needle-like and translucent teeth bared to them she allowed them to leave the nest. They stepped back slowly as her enormous head watched every one of their delicate movements to the exit; a permanent Cheshire smile of evil fixed scathingly in their direction.

Cassie, Takeda, and Jacqui tiptoed around the eggs, and Jacqui noticed some had already opened and could see the facehuggers clinging onto the rims of the eggs as if watching them leave as well.

Kotal Kahn kept his glowing eyes on the devilish mother; his eyes narrowed suspiciously in her direction as she watched him with complete animosity.

They exited the cave, Kotal being the last, and despite the darkness he could vaguely make out the hulking form of the Queen in the blackness and could hear her haggard snarling bouncing lightly off the cave walls.

Kotal Kahn looked at the last rays of sun start to dwindle.

He felt as if he was being stared at and turned to see it was Cassie who was looking at him with the most seriousness he had seen her with since their journey began.

She looked at him with a stony expression of cold-blood fury burning into her blue eyes and requested the Emperor of Outworld he do only one thing.

"Burn the Bitch."

Kotal Kahn did not have to be told twice and fulfilled her order with the utmost of eagerness. His tattoos become ablaze with light as he summoned as much as he could muster. The Queen sensed his power revving up and felt the growing need to rip herself from her ovipositor. She tugged and shrilled in pain, shrieking violently as she tried to tear her own body from the sticky ovipositor.

"Up the stair path... to the fire's edge... I pray to the sky... TO SCORCH THE LAND!"

The cave erupted into a brilliant inferno of flames, the sound of the blaze almost drowning out the furious roaring of the Xenomorph Queen as her eggs were destroyed from within the cave.

Kotal Kahn continued his relentless attack, determined to rid the plague that had tried to rip the jungle apart. He continued, his face grimacing and twisting into pain. He ceased his attack and brought his arms over his head and brought them down. With the last bit of magic still left within him he forced the cave in on itself. The rocks of the cave buckled in and piled on top of each other like an avalanche and buried everything inside.

He collapsed to the ground, his hands on his knees as he tried to regain the energy that he had spent. The Earthrealmers watched the now calm cave with a sense of alleviation and relief.

It was over.

They all said nothing and walked as far away from the cave they could get.

The father they marched away, the more they seemed positive that the Queen and her filthy spawn were no more.

However, as they walked through the jungle, Cassie trying her best to get a hold of Earthrealm, unbeknownst to them the rocks that blocked the escape started to shift slightly and budge apart.

* * *

"This is Sergeant Cage does anyone come in?" Cassie hailed through her communicator, getting no response. The night started to darken, and the Emperor felt his strength begin to deplete with the sun's exit. Nevertheless, Kotal Kahn marched ahead, keeping his eyes peeled for Black to rejoin them.

Cassie heard static and felt a small sense of relief fill her. Takeda and Jacqui paused; Kotal Kahn also halted; listening to see if the Earthrealmers could get a response.

"Bout time kiddo!"

Cassie's heart jumped in joy when she heard the sound of her father over the communicator. "Mission complete. The threat has been neutralized. Permission to come home."

"Permission granted," Sonya Blade cut in. "Opening the portal— standby." The communicator cut off and they waited patiently where they were. They heard rustling coming towards them, and Kotal Kahn felt his face drop in horror when he saw Black being carelessly dragged by the Predator, Black looking as if he was fighting to stay awake.

The Earthrealmers also stared helplessly, feeling incapable of helping the former Earthrealmer as he was dumped on the ground in front of them all. Bullet wounds bled everywhere on it's body, and it looked like it was in pain as well.

The Predator stared in Kotal Kahn direction, and the Emperor felt anger flow through him, burning him with a white, hot rage at what the it did next, as if purposely for the Kahn's eyes.

Erron Black screamed in horrendous pain when he felt it punch a hole through Black's back and into his flesh and he could do nothing when he felt him pull his spine out one vertebra at a time out his back. The Predator's ripped Erron's Black's spine out with the gunslinger's head still attached with a victorious and challenging roar. Blood hit them all like the spray of a garden hose, and they did nothing but stare in disbelieving horror at what it did.

He stroked the bloody spine and gave the head an almost tender caress before he tossed it at Kotal's feet; Erron's dead eyes staring up at the Emperor from the ground.

The Emperor met the expressionless face mask with deadliest and most enraged scowl that Cassie had ever seen before Kotal Kahn turned to the group of Earthrealmers.

"I suggest you depart to Earthrealm— at another location," was all he said, his voice vibrating with anger he tried to hide.

They nodded and gave them both one last look before they carried Cassie off as fast as they could from the battle they knew was about to take place.

Kotal waited until he could no longer hear their footsteps in the jungle before he gave the Predator an unimpressed scowl. The former Aztec ruler looked at the beast and lifted his head at him, a look of displeased recognition coming across his face. Kotal started to walk, as if on the outside of an invisible perimeter as the Predator mimicked him; both of them sizing each other up. They were both injured and weak, but they would fight to the death. Kotal knew this and not just because of what he suspected at first glance from the muscled foe, but because of the little he already knew about him.

"They spoke of you. An echo from the past and nothing more than a remnant of a dead civilization," Kotal Kahn began, his voice low and baritone like a jaguar's growl.

He titled his head at him, unsure of what he was saying to him but knew by tone and body language he was challenging him; accepting his offering to do battle. He clicked at him and stopped walking; Kotal Kahn also did the same and nodded to his face mask and the cannon on his shoulder.

"You would fight me behind a mask and a weapon, Mixcoatl _?"_ Kotal Kahn glowered, a huff escaping him, "I expected much more from the supposed God of the Hunt and War."

At first the Kahn thought that maybe it did not understand his words until his claw hand reached for the cannon on his shoulder. It turned off with a whir, and he gave it one last look before he tossed it to the ground. Kotal's head lifted up in dark anticipation as the clawed hands reached for the wires on the sides of his face mask and pried them out of the slots. Air escaped from the small hoses as he pulled them one by and slowly lifted the face mask before discarding it to the jungle floor.

Kotal Kahn stared at the repulsive mandible face that glared as hostilely back at him, the small top mandibles clicking lightly at him as the small yellow eyes bored into him like a hell-hound. Kotal Kahn didn't falter and responded by lifting his headdress off his head, revealing an intricate bowl cut of jet black hair underneath before he set the headdress softly and carefully on the ground and brought out his tecpatl dagger. He sliced his own hand by wrapping his hand around the blade and pulled it down, as what was traditional for the Osh-Tekks in battle, and stared intensely at him.

"Let us see this night who is the true War God!" Kotal Kahn exclaimed, his blue glowing eyes burning brightly.

The Predator roared in response, his mandibles flaring widely as he unsheathed his arm blades and approached the alpha he had been longing to turn into a trophy. The both ran at each other, armed with their own blades and prepared to fight to the death.

He sliced high at the Kahn's head but missed when the Emperor ducked and slashed him lightly across the stomach. Kotal Kahn turned in time to see the arm blades reach for him but tucked in his body enough for it to miss the underhanded slice. He landed a solid hook to the Emperor's face which caused him to spin, his jaw screaming in agony from the blow but recovered, his dagger out in front of him in defense.

The Kahn moved in and slashed at the mandible face, but he quickly moved out of the way of. The arms blades came for him again in an undercut that Kotal blocked, barely able to shove the blades away from the exposed stomach of his flesh. Kotal grabbed his wrist and stepped off to the side, placing himself behind it with the arm straight out and locked it against his chest and held onto its wrist. He had not anticipated its strength and with a surprised yell felt the Predator pull his restrained arm forward and practically throw the Emperor a few feet in front of him.

Kotal landed with a grunt and rolled quickly when he heard him march forward and stab the ground where he used to lay. Kotal stood quickly, brought the dagger up and stabbed the his stomach while it tried to pull its blades from the ground. It roared in pain and backhanded the Emperor across the face, causing a tooth to loosen as he spiraled, trying to stay on his feet. The Predator stood, clicked with pain and pulled the tecpatl dagger from his gut and tossed it to the side. Kotal sighed at his misfortune, now weaponless he was on the defensive. it stumbled, his body rocked with pain and his vision blurred but composed himself and walked towards the Emperor. Kotal's eyes landed on the dagger that lay on the jungle floor, his mind working quickly to see if there was any way to reach it.

Kotal crossed his wrists across his face, blocking the arm blades that were aimed inches from his face as the humanoid tried to drive them into him from above. Kotal grunted under the strength of the beast and regrettably found himself buckling to his knees, giving the Predator much more leverage. He cried out in pain as he failed to bring the blades off to the side and felt them pierce his shoulder and the top of his arm. He grasped the gantlet of the Predator as it leaned forward and pushed the blades out of his shoulder and arm, a maliciously and satisfied spark in it's yellow eyes. With the Kahn still attached, he spun and sailed the Kahn through the air, the blades ripping out as the Kahn was thrown like a rag doll.

Kotal hit the ground in agony, his arm scorching in pain and weakened by the terrible wound inflicted. Kotal Kahn noticed a large, blunt rock bigger than his head and seeing no other weapons available he brought himself up and threw it with precision. The Predator felt his mandibles break as the rock sent him backwards, pain engulfing his vision as he shook his head to clear his sight. He felt a hand grab his dreadlocks and pull his face down to meet a solid kneecap that made him howl in pain. Kotal Kahn lifted up and delivered a brutal push-kick and watched it bent over in pain, his kick landing in the it's wounds.

Kotal felt a surge of confidence build up in him, knowing he had the offensive for a short moment, punched him across the face with his good hand, snapping it's head to the side and delivering another kick to it's injured stomach.

The Predator slashed at the Emperor blindly and missed, the Kahn leaning back away from the blades and gave the him a jaw-shattering uppercut. The Predator stumbled back more and Kotal Kahn, his face twisted in anger, kicked relentlessly and in the direction the dagger lay. He punched again, the humanoid starting to feel overwhelmed; unable to recover enough from the massive pain in his torso. The Predator managed to land a punch to Kotal's head but the Emperor returned it with a hook of his own. He fell back, his shoulders heaving heavily as pain rocked every inch of his body; green blood pouring out of it's fanged mouth.

Kotal picked up his dagger and came forward once again. He realized his mistake when he felt the blades cut across his abdomen. Kotal Kahn walked backwards in pain, blood pouring down his stomach, over the loincloth and down his legs. He breathed heavily and turned to the Predator with a venomous look.

With a battle cry, he charged him, wanting to finish this once and for all. He ducked as the blades slashed at him once again and tackled the Predator to the ground and buried his dagger deep inside the its sternum.

He breathed very lightly under Kotal Kahn, and he looked into the dying face of it, lifting himself off and pulling the dagger with a sharp twist. He coughed blood and started to die slowly, the pain getting numb as the seconds dragged on.

Kotal Kahn looked down at him without sympathy and took gratification in watching him die. However, the Predator still had one more trick up its sleeve. Barely with any strength or movement left, he reached for his wrist computer and Kotal Kahn narrowed his eyes at what it was doing. It's clawed hands stumbled over the keypad before the display lit up with red characters the Kahn had seen from the craft.

The characters danced, and Kahn felt a dread fall over them as he watched the figures start to diminish one by one; realization enveloping him.

Kotal Kahn ran as fast as he could for the border of the Kuatan Jungle, the Predator's evil and bone chillingly human-like laugh filled the jungle as the Predator had it's last laugh and the bomb on its computer ticked away.

* * *

The Earthrealmers were waiting patiently for the portal to open up when they heard a familiar hiss through the jungle and when they turned to see what it was their hearts immediately sank at the grotesque sight they thought they had destroyed.

The Queen was alive and looking for them, her 20 foot tall body still smoldering from the fire and with a malevolent temper, hell-bent on killing as she stomped around the jungle looking for the ones that tried to incinerate her and had destroyed her nest.

"You gotta be fuckin' kidding me..." Cassie breathed in disbelief, her voice drenched in fear.

Their hearts jumped out of their chests when the portal suddenly materialized behind them and caught their attention. It also drew the attention of the Queen as well and her massive crowned head fixed in their direction like a viper ready to strike.

They felt panic flood them as they made their way as fast as they could towards the portal, the hissing of the Queen growing louder as the jungle thundered from her massive footsteps. She smashed trees and uprooted soil as she charged them, snarling and hissing and it encouraged them to move a little faster.

The Predator's bomb ticked dangerously close to detonation as they crossed the threshold and saw familiar faces at the Special Forces base waiting for them on the other side.

Sonya knew something had gone terribly wrong when she saw the absolute fear-stricken looks on all of their faces. Hanzo Hasashi and Kuai Liang gave each other a worried look when they saw the team's injured appearances, the blood that coated them all and noticed they were also short one person.

They heard a horrendous and hellish snarl from the other side of the portal, and it sent waves of trepidation through the group as they ran faster down the platform.

"CLOSE THE GODDAMN THING!" Cassie screamed at her mother who was at the control panel, her voice a high-pitched scream of terror as she hopped as fast as she could with Takeda and Jacqui carrying her, trying to escape the rampage of the Queen hot on their tails. A screech from the Queen was the last thing they heard when Sonya slammed the button.

It had not come at a moment too soon, if Sonya had been slower, the camp would have engulfed in fire from the massive light from the Predator's bomb that blinded the camp.

They all shielded their eyes from the blast as the portal materialized slowly while the camp was shook from the heat and the ear shattering sound.

Kenshi's hands went over his sensitive ears as he stumbled away while Johnny Cage held up a hand over his sunglasses. Sonya ducked behind the panel as Hanzo and Kuai Liang turned away from the burning light. Jacqui, Takeda, and Cassie were thrown forward towards a stack of heavy boxes and large cargo crates that caused them all to wince in agony. Takeda thought he had heard something go over his head and land on the other side of the boxes but focused more on shielding his eye from the light of the explosion.

As fast as it had accrued, the portal closed and the noise calmed; leaving the camp in silence as they tried to regain themselves. Slowly, Cassie, Jacqui, and Takeda lifted themselves up. They immediately looked around to see if the Queen had followed them and smiled in joy and relief when they didn't see her hideous hide anywhere in sight. They winced as they stood up, using the crates to work themselves back to their feet and noticed a lot of strange and pestered looks coming from the adults in the camp; wondering if they had answers for them.

"What the hell was that?" Sonya said as she came to towards the group, her strides fast and serious but Cassie could see the look in her eyes that she was glad they were safe.

Sonya noticed someone was missing. "Where's Jin?"

Cassie felt guilt stab her as she gave her mother a solemn look, "He didn't make it..."

"Sonya?" Johnny interrupted. "Are we really gonna do this now in front of everyone? Look at them."

Sonya shot Johnny a look that made the actor think that she was about to chew him out, but instead her face softened, and she knew he was right; they could be debriefed later. She turned back to the kids and nodded. "Let's get you patched up."

Cassie smiled, tiredly but appreciatively at the General and also flashed her father a duplicate smile as well. Johnny returned it as he pulled his sunglasses down to the edge of his nose and mouthed silently at her. _'what happened to your shoe?'_

Nearby Kenshi finally cleared his rattled brain; his senses having been temporarily overwhelmed from the explosion. Through the haze, Kenshi picked up a strange buzzing like a swarm of angry wasps near the boxes the kids were at. It sounded like an orchestra of evil and hatred and it sent terror through him when he realized that what he was hearing belonged to something monstrous; a lifeform of some sort and no doubt the thing that they had been trying to escape.

Takeda noticed a look of horror come over his father's usually stoic face, and he saw the blindfold fix their direction, his father's voice ripping into his mind, screaming at them to get away from the crates. He pulled Sento out of his sheath, and it caught the attention of everyone, especially when Kenshi's face twisted in terror and he shouted at them.

"Run!"

Cassie's chest suddenly lurched in pain, her chest heaving and making way for a sharp speared tail to exit out of her body a look of absolute agony on her face as blood came gushing out of her mouth like a geyser, gargling on the scream of pain that uncontrollably escaped. She grasped onto Jacqui's shoulder, ripping the fabric of her Special Forces uniform like it was nothing.

Jacqui knew what was happening and all she could do was stare in horror at the long spear that had pierced her best friend's body that started to lift her into the sky and tore Cassie's hands from her shoulder. Takeda grabbed Jacqui and pulled her as far away as he could, trying to get her to safety.

Cassie's Special Forces uniform dripped with blood, and her head went slack before a familiar crowned head poked it's way over the large crates and snarled at them all. The Xenomorph's claws grasped Cassie, holding her in the air enough for the Queen to pull the tail out before it ripped Cassie in half with her bare, obsidian hands. Cassie's torso flew to one side of the camp, and her bottom half flew to the other side. Blood spilled in both directions and coated the ground as the Queen hissed angrily at them.

A scream escaped the General's mouth she did not even knew she was capable of and engulfed the camp. It was heart wrenching, and it could be heard from miles as her hands went to her face. Complete shock overwhelming and escaping out her as she watched her own daughter ripped apart and killed right in front of her eyes.

For once Johnny had nothing to say. His feet might as well of weighed a thousand pounds because he was glued to where he was and refused to believe what had just happened as it played over and over in his head like one of his movies.

He was in shock until his eyes landed on the torn corpse of his daughter. The only thing in his life he cared for more than himself— tremendously more than himself—lying in pieces on the ground. He felt an agonizing pain enter his heart and stab him relentlessly as he felt the most furious and hollowed scream tear from him and shake the camp like an earthquake.

His body trembled with anger as he glared at the monstrous form of the Xenomorph Queen and noticed his body started to glow green. Instead of the need to protect a loved one, it glowed because of the inconsolable anger and agony he felt.

The Queen hissed and snarled at them all, her teeth dripping heavy with saliva. Sonya, a blaze burning hot within her for revenge, readied her firearms. Johnny joined her by her side, his body resonating heavily with the green glow and gave each other a look before they looked at the Queen, both of them eager to kill her as painfully as possible.

Kenshi's katana glowed blue as he brought it up, preparing himself as well to assist and do battle. Kenshi felt the temperature drop and heard a sound that sounded like a chain and knew it was Hanzo's kunai blade revealing itself. Sub-Zero formed ice in his hand and crushed it in a display of his readiness as well. Both of the Grandmasters ready to kill the spawn of evil that had entered the camp at its own peril.

Takeda's whips came out of their gauntlets and he whipped the mangled chains hard on the ground, an angered look on his face that resembled Jacqui's as she tore the tattered sleeve off and worked on reloading her gauntlets.

The Queen snarled at them all as they approached and for once felt herself take a step backwards...

* * *

 **A/N:** _*laughs maniacally while wearing devil-horns and waving a pitch-fork*_ " _Oh yes! The dreaded Cliffhanger!"_

 _Mixcoatl is the Aztec god of hunting and war and according to AVP they visited some of the Aztecs. So there's my little nod there. Speaking of homage, Cassie's death was a mirror to Bishop's death in Aliens, so it wasn't my idea it was James Cameron's. The only difference with mine is that Cassie won't get a cameo in Alien 3. It's lazy I know. :/_

 _Why Cassie? Because she already got to take out Shinnok, and it was the evilest thing I could think of, and I know I'm a bitch for doing it in front of Sonya and Johnny._

 _I'll see you next chapter for the epic showdown. Let me know what you thought of this chapter in the reviews and once again thank you for reading/fav/reviewing/alert._


	8. BONUS ROUND

**Chapter 8: BONUS ROUND**

* * *

All of the Z'unkahrah could smell the smoke despite how far the Kuatan Jungle was to them, the only thing that the residents did not know was what caused it— except for one person; their Emperor who was not in the mood to answer questions.

It would have continued to burn into the next day if there had been anything left to incinerate. Instead, a thick cloud was all that remained of the ashes, rising like a huge smoke stack and carried off into the wind.

Kotal Kahn ignored the strange looks he got and instead proceeded inside the palace to search for rest he would not claim any matter how tired he felt. His heart was heavy when he sat on his throne and looked at the empty hall that was once accompanied by his mercenaries, body-guards and most importantly the ones he deemed as friends.

His eyes drifted to the jungle once more, a dark frown of guilt on his face he felt from holding the burden of being the only survivor.

He denied the healer that came to his side, waving him off with a hand and instead sat on his throne is solitude.

He rose from his throne and walked towards the balcony when he saw a faint speck buried in the sky, something floating high in the heavens and before he could tell what it was it disappeared.

Leaving him to wonder if he had seen anything at all.

* * *

 _Earlier..._

 **/This is Captain Avery! Does anyone have a visual on the hostile?/**

 **/Uh yeah! We have a visual alright!/** came a distressed masculine voice on the other end. The captain cringed when she heard the same voice scream in agony on the other end seconds later.

The female captain of the Special Forces was in her barracks when she had heard the explosion. It woke her up from her nap before she heard the horn go off that barely covered the sounds of bullets, screaming and a terrible and monstrous roar she had never heard before in her life. One that sent tremors through her before she even knew what the hell was going on. Gunfire had erupted from the south end of the camp, near where the portal was stationed, and then it moved to the west.

 **/This is General Blade! Engage Hostile! Make sure that Bitch doesn't leave the base!/**

Captain Avery faltered. _Bitch?_ As in just _one_ hostile? Well, whatever this bitch was it had done something to piss the General off. She had never heard the General this furious before. She hoped sometime in the future she never received a flicker of the General's rage. Avery followed the sound of the gunfire and screaming, a small group of 4 men with her as she ran ahead ready to face whatever foe had entered the Special Forces Base.

When they turned the corner, she had to duck immediately out of the way before a soldier went sailing through the air and hit the guy behind her. They hit the concrete hard, and she saw that the man that had been flown was already dead; a gaping hole in his chest made by something sharp and massive.

The soldier pushed the body off before his eyes bulged in surprise. Avery turned to what had caught his attention and saw the most terrifying animal she had ever seen and frowned when she wished she had grabbed more than a shotgun.

She collected herself, and they opened fire. The monstrous form of the creature snarled and came for them, the bullets hitting her like wasp stings, but it was not the kind of damage they wanted to cause.

The next thing Avery knew was a giant claw swiping her, cutting her open and sending her into the other four men. The Queen ripped them apart like paper dolls, her inner mouth punching holes in their flesh while she tore limbs at the same time.

By the time Hanzo Hasashi had scaled the wall, Sub-Zero right behind him, the group of soldiers were dead. Hanzo tucked and rolled, protecting his knees as he jumped from the brick wall and launched his kunai spear at the Queen. The Queen's head snapped back as the spear hit her between the spiked dorsal spines near the junction of her neck and head, the kunai buried deep.

"GET OVER HERE!"

Hanzo pulled, but all it did was cause the Queen's head to snap back with a screech. She shoot him a snarling look and Hanzo could have sworn he saw the Queen's lip raise up in a snarky and devilish smile before he was pulled like a trout fisherman with a Great White Shark on the other end.

He grunted, his feet sliding over the pavement as he buried his feet as best as he could. Hanzo ducked in time as the speared tail swiped at him before she lunged for him until she was blasted with a cold fog of ice. She shook her massive crown head and snarled at the Cryomancer.

Sub-Zero ran forward and barely dodged the spear-tail that aimed but missed him, instead hitting the ground next to him. He created a thin sheet of ice and slid underneath her massive form while he pointed his hands at her legs. She screeched as the cold hit her legs, the ice gluing her legs to the concrete as she thrashed wildly while also trying to rid the kunai that stung her back.

Sub-Zero, now face to face with the creature, focused his energy and aimed at its massive chest. Ice hit the Queen, and she shrilled in pain, her movements getting more and more difficult as Sub-Zero tried to freeze her. Angered, she flicked her tail and aimed it at the Lin Kuei Grandmaster who had to cease and roll out of the way of the tail that swiped through the air for his neck, trying to decapitate him.

The Queen recovered from the cold and stabbed the ground for the Cryomancer, who rolled out of the way for each attack. Sub-Zero heard ice shatter and frowned heavily when she ripped her legs from the pavement and out of the shackles of ice; free once again.

The acidic blood eventually dissolved the kunai blade, and Hanzo felt himself fall backward when the chain finally snapped and grunted as he fell on his rear. He spread his legs as far apart as he could when the spear also stabbed for him as well but missed. He shot the Queen a glare, the spear-tail getting a little too close before he rolled back to his feet. The Queen screeched for him and charged him, her four arms reaching for him before she felt something climb her back.

Sub-Zero formed a kori blade as he ran up the spiked back of the Xenomorph Queen but felt himself frown when she noticed his presence on her back. He managed to stab in the wound inflicted by Hanzo's kunai blade before she managed to buck him off by hitting the blunt side of her tail against him. Sub-Zero sailed into the brick wall and felt it buckle from the impact, his side burning.

He sat up before he found himself ducking quickly to the side, the spear-tail stuck in the wall where his head used to be. She leaned in, her massive teeth snapping for his flesh before he gave her a face full of ice shards.

She screeched, faltering when the sharp bits pierced her flesh and allowed Sub-Zero to get away. Hanzo's damaged chain wrapped around one of the points of her intricate and pointed crown and with the strongest jerk he could muster, one that she was not expecting, brought her head to slam against the ground.

She screeched as she hit the pavement, noticed who was at the other end of the chain and twisting her head she sent Hanzo and the chain in her direction. Like an owner being pulled by a dog, he was yanked forward and thrown to the ground and closer to the Queen.

She rose above him, her inner mouth snapping at him when she felt another chain wrap around the opposite point of the crown. Takeda was on the other end of the whip and struggled to keep her at bay, Hanzo noticed he had arrived and recovered, pulling his chain until there was no slack; the both of them struggling to hold the Queen steady while Sub-Zero worked on freezing her spindly but strong legs.

Takeda and Hanzo grunted in effort against the weight and strength of her as she tried with all her might to free herself. Takeda and Hanzo's feet started to slid over the concrete, and they dug their heels in even harder, and she wailed in anger as she felt the cold hinder her. Hanzo and Takeda glanced at each other, smiled and in unison tugged harder on the chains. Her face slammed into the ground while the rest of her body arched up, trying to pull away from the chains and the cold. Furious, she hissed and aimed her tail at Sub-Zero. Kuai Liang frowned at having to stop once again and rolled out of the way.

With the Lin Kuei Grandmaster away she aimed for Takeda. Takeda's eyes widened, and he also tried to get out of the way, however he wasn't able to move out of the way fast enough, and he felt the tail rip into his arm, cutting him deep and sending him to the ground bleeding. The whip went slack enough for her to give her enough leverage to lift one side of her head.

Takeda and Hanzo felt their feet leave the ground before she whipped her head and flung them, finally managing to rid herself of the chains and watched as they sailed. Hanzo hit the side of a crate and Takeda felt the air explode out of his lungs when he landed flat on his back, his body screaming in pain.

Hanzo shook his head, trying to clear the dots that danced in front of his eyes when he noticed that the Queen had Sub-Zero in her grasp, crushing his body between her hands. Sub-Zero groaned in pain as the claws dug into his body, cutting him and forcing his arms to the sides, as she brought him closer to her mouth that was salivating heavily; her inner mouth waiting to sink into his head.

She hissed, her mouth opening a little wider until she suddenly flung him from her, shrieking in pain as one of Hanzo's Mugai Ryu swords stuck out of the side of her head. Sub-Zero moved out of the way as her acid spilled the ground around him as she wailed in pain. The acid eventually ate at the metal of the Japanese sword and with one of her hands she broke the handle and part of the blade off as well. She was still in pain with the remainder of sword still buried with her skull, and she hissed dangerously in Hanzo's direction.

She charged for him until she felt herself being flung backward by an invisible force she did not see. Kenshi had finally arrived and had his sword ready. He grunted; Sento glowing blue from the magic of his ancestors, and with all his strength flung the enormous form of the Queen away from the Shirai Ryu Grandmaster.

Her body sailed into the side of a shipping crate and dented it. She hissed at blind swordsman and stalked towards him. Gripping the swords in both hands he calmly walked a perimeter, the Queen hissed, her body hunched forward and her arms spread wide as she followed suit as well as she sized up the new foe. Her tail swung at him, and he deflected by blocking it, swinging it around his head and pushing it away.

She aimed for him again but felt something whip onto her tail, and she turned and hissed as Takeda held the other end of the whip. Almost with an annoyed scowl she flicked her tail forward and sent Takeda flying in the air towards the shipping crate she had dented. Takeda sailed over Kenshi's head and hit the box hard, fell facedown and this time he did not get up. A worried frown expression flashed on Kenshi's face before he scowled in the direction of the Queen; Takeda was not dead much to Kenshi's relief, but the beast had hurt him badly.

She whipped the tail at Kenshi once more, Kenshi reacted by sliding forward on the ground, tucking his back so far the back his head nearly touched the pavement, before he straightened up, side-stepped out of the way and severed the hand that made a swipe for him. She wailed in pain and stormed off, her footsteps heavy as she instantly planted the injured smaller arm against her chest, her other three arms waving angrily in pain.

Sub-Zero produced another kori sword, and Hanzo brought his remaining one out of his sheath. They charged the Queen and sliced what they could, trying to avoid the inner-mouth that sprang for them and the claws that made grabs for whatever flesh she could get. They moved out of the way, trying their best to avoid her at all costs while they sliced at her legs, ribbed chest, and body. It didn't seem like they were making much effort as the acidic blood started to melt their weapons, except for Sento that was protected by the blue telekinetic energy around it.

Sonya, Jacqui and Johnny Cage finally caught up to them all and rounded the corner to see the three men doing their best to avoid the sharp claws and tail of the Xenomorph Queen that reached for them with little luck.

Sub-Zero heard Kenshi call out to him in his mind and did what the telepath asked and created a smooth sheet of ice underneath the Queen before he had to duck out of the way as her claws swiped for him. Kenshi slid underneath the Queen and held his sword above his head, creating a deep cut by slicing the Queen through her belly and exited out the other end. He avoided the tail for now and waited for an opportunity when it was in perfect position.

Kuai Liang and Hanzo kept her distracted while Kenshi waited with the patience of a tiger on the hunt with Sento by his side, also avoiding her tail by moving his head to the side as she aimed absently for him as well; distracted by the Grandmasters. Kenshi noticed the tail had stopped moving and the spear end landed right in front of him exactly where he wanted it; he allowed himself a smile.

The Queen shrieked in pain when she felt the spear end of her tail chopped off. Kenshi felt Sento start to falter from the acidic blood and with a flick of the wrist whipped the blood off until it was clean.

Sonya, Johnny, and Jacqui advanced as the Queen stomped away from the Grandmasters and tried to flee; acidic blood sprayed everywhere, and the humans tried to avoid the spray as she stormed towards the brick wall. Sonya felt her already wounded heart sink a little when she saw the blood land on Johnny.

Johnny let out a small cry of surprise before confusion engulfed his face and looked at his unaffected body, stunned as the blood rolled off him as harmless as water, "How you like that? I can't melt."

Sonya smiled in relief as she looked over the green power of protection around Johnny before her face twisted in absolute hatred and turned her enraged temper back to the Queen that was trying to run away once again.

"You're not going anywhere you bitch!" Sonya growled under her breath; her teeth gritted in anger as she ran towards it and fired at it's spiked back. Jacqui also fired at it and watched with a smirk as shotgun rounds hit the Queen's back, the Queen screaming in pain.

The Queen's hands clung to the brick wall, and she was about to climb over it until she felt another kunai spear wrapped around and sink into the front of her throat. Hanzo felt his feet start to drag until he saw a rush of people come to aid him. Sub-Zero, Sonya, Jacqui, and Cage grabbed the chain and pulled while Kenshi assisted nearby by placing two fingers to his temple and with a telekinetic latch on to her as well.

She hissed in annoyance and alarm as she felt herself being pulled back, unable to escape. They grunted as they began to pull the Queen back, her weight heavy and her determination to go over the wall not as strong as their desire to see her dead.

Johnny bared his teeth and glared, "Leaving already? We're just gettin' started!"

They all pulled in unison with a quick and strong jerk that caused the Queen's chin to hit the ledge of the wall, cracking it in the process. The Queen was getting weaker, and it was obvious when she shrieked when they all finally pulled her off the wall, her claws taking bits of stone with her and landed face first on the ground. She tried to lift herself but found something holding her down and turned to see the blind swordsman nearby. Hanzo also held her with the chain of kunai blade, trying to keep her head stationed as much as he could before the acid eventually ate away at it.

Bullets ripped into her from Jacqui, Sonya and Cage's own sidearm, her damaged hide splattering from the impact of the rounds into her damaged hide. She screeched in agony, her head lifting and shaking as she could do nothing but endure the pain.

Kenshi's hand started to shake as his face scrunched in exhaustion, but he nevertheless held on; trying his best to keep her pinned to the pavement while the others fired on her; weakening her little by little. The Queen noticed this through the haze of pain and flung her severed tail towards Kenshi, trying to spray blood in his direction. Unfortunately for the Queen, Sub-Zero noticed this and froze the acid and watched the chunks fall harmlessly at Kenshi's feet.

Johnny's gun clicked as well as Sonya's when Kenshi couldn't hold on to the Queen any longer and Hanzo's kunai blade finally melted. The Queen charged them, the chain going slack as she flew towards them like a ball out of a cannon. Johnny, Sonya, and Jacqui felt themselves flying, each one of them going in their own direction when the Queen barreled into them and swung her arms. Jacqui flew to the left and landed near Takeda, Sonya went straight back, landing with a hard thud and Johnny sailed to the right.

Sonya rolled to her feet, her chest protesting in pain and reached for a grenade on her belt as the Queen hissed at her and charged, her tail swinging behind her wildly to propel her to the other pissed off mother. Sonya waited and threw the grenade and watched it blow up right in front of her ugly face.

The Queen screeched when the grenade hit her sending more pain through her when the grenade blew off a chunk of her crown. Another grenade went off in her face and this time took the larger of her arms off. Blood spilled as the Queen hissed and toppled hard to the ground, scorched by the flames and in excruciating pain.

Sonya reached for her last grenade and noticed that it had come lose when she was tossed and was laying out of reach. She reached for another magazine and tried to reload the gun as the Queen gained her composure and charged her again, a horrible and violent screech aimed directly at Sonya.

Johnny Cage, his body, protected against the acidic blood, saw it coming for Sonya and jumped on her back and started to destroy what he could. The Queen screeched in pain as the actor broke her sharp dorsal spines by kicking them, halting her from attacking Sonya. He got an idea and with one of the dorsal spines he jumped off.

The Queen screeched at him and stomped her way towards Johnny before she felt cold engulf her once again. She jerked her legs, hissing when she could not move them and also felt her tail start to mold into the pavement. Her attention focused back to Cage who had run up to her and stabbed her underneath with the dorsal spine, sending it into her neck as deep as he could get it.

The Queen shrieked once again but missed Cage as he ducked underneath and focused his attention on her frozen legs. Cage kicked them, his strength fueled by the green energy, and smirked when he was able to break the spindly legs of the Queen's calf. She howled in pain as he repeated the same thing on the other leg and moved out of the way before she fell forward. The dorsal spine embedded in her neck pushed deeper into her throat when she landed on her chin and damaged stomach with a thud that rocked the ground. With her own dorsal spine stabbed into her neck and her legs broken, she did not get back up.

The Queen laid on the ground barely alive and breathed strangled and hollow, her body unresponsive to her commands to move. Acidic blood came from her broken translucent teeth as the cold froze her to the pavement.

She heard the footsteps of the humans approach her, and all she could muster was a ghastly snarl that consisted of her upper lips lifting slightly. Sonya looked down at the monster; her body trembling in rage but at the same time elated to see the Queen in such searing pain and dying at her feet. Johnny Cage joined her side, the glow tapering and also with the same look of darkly satisfied animosity on his face.

"It's not even half of what you deserve... " Sonya spat at it, her face ugly with unbearable resentment. The Queen lifted her head a centimeter at her and gave a graveled hiss as if telling the General it did not care.

Sonya glared at the soulless monster before her and with an impossibly stony face lifted her gun and emptied her full magazine into the face of the Queen. The Queen, the monstrous grotesque spawn of Hades, the very same damned creature that took the daughter she barely knew but loved deeply nonetheless, was finally dead.

Sonya's gun clicked as she pulled hasthe trigger of an empty gun. She wished she had more rounds to put into its mangled and still hideously grinning evil face. The face of the Xenomorph Queen would forever be burned into her head despite Sonya getting her revenge. She would never see her daughter again and no matter how much she tried to be pleased with the Queen's demise all she felt was a cold emptiness that engulfed her as she attempted to put more bullets into the skull of the Queen she did not have.

A full minute of just clicking passed before she felt Johnny place his hand on the top of the gun and lower her hand, letting her know to stop. Sonya looked at Johnny whose face was molded into as much pain and heartache as hers was. He nodded at her, his eyes blinking back the tears that desperately wanted to escape. Just looking at his face sent Sonya's own tears over the brim of her eyes as a sob escaped her and after many years of divorce she allowed him to hold her close as they both wept.

The eerie quiet was broken by their sobbing and Jacqui also felt her eyes prick with tears as Kenshi and herself finally stopped the bleeding on Takeda's arm, the shaking sobs from the General and Cage racking her body with sorrow when she thought of Cassie, Jin and everything that had happened. She felt Kenshi place a hand on her back, trying to feebly smooth the misery she felt as tears spilled from her eyes and stained the concrete. Her usually strong composure buckling more under the weight of Kenshi's hand as a doleful expression took over his face as well.

Hanzo winced at the sound of the mother and the father of her child sobbing and trying to comfort each other. He knew this pain all too well, and he found himself bowing his head, his chest growing uncomfortably tight as his own memories flooded back to him. Kuai Liang stood next to him in silence, a heavy heart for the grieving parents as well as he looked at the dead creature and couldn't find an excuse that would allow them to feel even a flicker of victory.

The Queen was dead, but they hadn't won a single thing.

* * *

 **A/N:** _*pokes head out of foxhole and offers tissues. Hides back in foxhole.*_


	9. EPILOGUE

**Epilogue: MK ENDING**

* * *

Jacqui had been awake for some time before the rooster crowed.

Sleep hadn't returned to her after the nightmare she had but she took comfort from the arm that was draped around her waist and the soft snoring she heard from Takeda. Her tired and bloodshot eyes stared out the window of her old room and watched the sun rise over the small hill beyond the corn.

She sighed and snuggled closer to his chest, savoring the feeling of his body against her back. It would be two more days before Takeda would have to leave with his father for a reconnaissance mission somewhere in Nepal and it would be months before she saw him again. The thought of something going terribly wrong played over in her mind and ironically she was thankful that she was able to focus on something else than the constant image that plagued her for nearly a year.

The dreams were always the same; always the same set of teeth and always the same crown. She had hoped time away from the Special Forces would have helped her but they still followed her like a poltergeist; haunting her at random and inconvenient times when she wanted nothing but to forget.

Her father and mother were a godsend, as well as Takeda who did everything to try and make her as comfortable as possible. She felt bad for lying by telling them she wasn't having any more bad dreams, but she didn't want to have them worry about her anymore. She needed to fix it herself.

Even her busy life wasn't enough to distract her. She had a wedding to plan— finally that Jax and Vera had given Takeda their blessing. Kenshi was happy about the arrangement and she hoped Sonya and Johnny would be able to make the wedding as well.

It had been awhile since she heard from them and it worried her to the core since their last encounter had not gone so well at the hospital. Johnny had tried to feign happiness, and perhaps even was a little happy, but Jacqui could see the pain in his eyes. Sonya didn't say anything and had to excuse herself from the recovery room, causing Jacqui and Takeda to feel guilty but stuck with the name they had both picked.

She turned into Takeda, his arm still draped around her waist and studied his face. His face was relaxed and still handsome despite the three jagged marks over the depression of his right eye; he usually took his bandana off at night, one that covered the eye like a nod to his father's own blindfold. She looked over at the bicep and frowned at the large scar from where the Queen's tail had sliced his arm open. She couldn't help but frown at it, the scar on his arm always bothered her.

She heard the baby girl stir, small whines coming from the crib across the room from their bed. Jacqui tiredly lifted herself out of bed, careful not to disturb Takeda and went over to the little dark-skinned baby wrapped warmly in a pink blanket. Her face was scrunched up and Jacqui smiled lightly at the culprit who had disturbed the little one's slumber.

A black cat with jade eyes had his soft body wrapped around the baby's head, keeping the 3 month old warm with it's soft fur while it licked the black hair on top of her head as if trying to clean it like it was it's own kitten. Jacqui thought it was cute but still a little annoyed that all the male cat was doing was disturbing her with it's rough tongue and putting spit in it's hair, causing it to spike up to the side. The baby started to cry softly and Jacqui gave the cat a glare.

"Jin, stop bothering her," Jacqui whispered under her breath, trying not to wake the baby with her voice.

Jacqui couldn't help but smile when Jin stopped and squinted it's eyes in her direction, as if annoyed with her. It gave the baby another couple of licks before the cat rested it's head besides Cassandra's head and they both drifted back to sleep.

* * *

 **THE END**

* * *

 **A/N:** _I may vomit with pride over how sappy this ending is but I hope you all enjoyed it. :)_

 _Thanks again for all that read, supported, suggested, reviewed, alerted and added this story to your favorites list. You have all made writing this a joy and I thank you all._

 _Like Porky says 'That's all folks...'_


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